POLICE JUDGMENTS OF CULPABILITY AND HOMOPHOBIA

This study (a) presented 152 Texas police officers with a scenario in which the sexual orientation of a criminal suspect was manipulated (b) assessed homophobia in this sample, and (c) examined the relationship between homophobia and the officers’ judgments of the suspect’s culpability. Although the officers were no more likely to report that they would arrest a gay suspect than a heterosexual suspect, those who read a scenario with a gay suspect were more likely to indicate that they thought he should be convicted than those presented with a heterosexual suspect. In general, the officers in our study endorsed homophobic attitudes and those officers who reported higher levels of homophobia were more likely to think that the gay suspect should be convicted. Although considerable psychological research on legal decision making has focused on juries, less attention has been paid to decisions that are made in the earlier stages of legal proceedings. We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Rita Watkins, Executive Director