Etiology of Bias - Social Heuristics and Ratrional Decision Making in Deviance Processing

• NCJ Number: 97961
• Journal: Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency Volume: 22 Issue: 2 Dated: (May 1985) Pages: 135-162
• Author(s): G D Hill; A R Harris; J L Miller
• Date Published: 1985
• Length: 28 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS.

Annotation

This article attempts to redress a critical conceptual and methodological weakness in prevailing research on bias in deviant status attainment processes by focusing explicit attention on the dynamic, sequential, and reflexive nature of processing.

Abstract

The argument put forth here is that while processors are oriented toward rational decision making, uncertainty is an inherent part of judgements. As a result, effective decision making requires the use of available social heuristics to make decisions possible and still rational in appearance. We suggest that one underlying heuristic is typescripting. When recent anomalies in data on bias in criminal and juvenile justice processing are viewed with a dynamic model of processing that incorporates the idea of social heuristics, they appear to make sense. We discuss come of these anomalies, present some illustrative data from a large-scale survey of juveniles, and use the model to predict some counterintuitive findings. (Author abstract)