About the lecture

In this lecture, we tackle an aspect of forensic psychology which ties closely to areas of social psychology like stereotyping – defendant characteristics, focusing in particular on: (i) Dixon, Mahoney and Cocks’ 2002 study, which explored how differing regional accents, race, and crime type altered participants’ decisions of defendant guilt or innocence; (ii) the importance of investigating and addressing the impact these factors can have on jury decisions.

About the lecturer

Professor Ciarán O’Keeffe is associate professor of education and research and head of the School of Human and Social Sciences at Buckinghamshire New University. Professor O’Keeffe’s research interests include investigative psychology and parapsychology, and has made numerous television and radio appearances alongside an array of celebrities. Some of Professor O’Keeffe’s recent publications include 'Things That Go Bump In The Literature: An Environmental Appraisal of 'Haunted Houses'' (2020) and 'Restorative Justice and Recidivism: Investigating the impact of victim-preference for level of engagement' (2014).