Analysis of hispanic representation and conceptualization in psychology and law research

Abstract

Hispanics are now the largest minority group in the United States, yet research examining the impact this will have on the American legal system is limited. The first purpose of this article was to synthesize the studies that have been conducted, which have found that Hispanics have a perspective toward the police, the courts and the law, and jury decision making that is unique from those of Caucasians and other ethnic groups. The second purpose of this article was to analyze whether psychology and law research has been conducted in a manner conducive to identifying this unique Hispanic perspective. An analysis of 800 articles published in five psychology and law journals revealed that, while Hispanics were typically conceptualized properly, the proportion of articles devoted to the Hispanic perspective is disturbingly low. To increase understanding of the Hispanic perspective, psychology and law researchers must increase the amount of empirical attention given to Hispanics.

Sembrando Semillas, sowing seeds: Reflections on Latinx representations in US community psychology's AJCP

“…The US‐based community psychology literature on Latinx has often misrepresented the community or failed to adequately engage socioculturally relevant frameworks. Our observations are in resonance with colleagues who have made similar claims (Ayala‐Alcantar et al, 2008; Bernal & Enchautegui‐de‐Jesús, 1994; Guzman, 2012; Kelly, 2002; Martin‐Baro, 1994; Mulvey et al, 2000; Padilla et al, 2008; Perkins, 2010; Sánchez et al, 2017; Suarez‐Balcazar, 2018, 2020; Trickett, 1996; Watts & Serrano‐Garcia, 2003). Inspired by the themes of the special issue, and the 50th anniversary celebration of the American Journal of Community Psychology (AJCP), we offer this article as an example of Latinx representations.…”

Race in the justice system.

“…Given the increasing diversity of the jury pool, more research is needed to examine cultural, as well as racial and ethnic, infl uences on juror judgments (for a similar argument about Latino jurors, see Padilla, Miller, & Broadus, 2008 ).…”

How defendants’ legal status and ethnicity and participants’ political orientation relate to death penalty sentencing decisions.

“…Most of the research on the effect of defendant's race has focused on comparing African American and White defendants. In comparison, researchers have paid little attention to the effect of Latino ethnicity on jurors' decisions (Padilla, Miller, & Broadus, 2008). White individuals tend to support greater punishment and to perceive harsh treatment of suspects as more fair when the suspect is of Mexican (compared to Euro-Canadian) descent (Mukherjee, Molina, & Adams, 2013).…”