Date of Conferral
2022
Degree
Ph.D.
School
Psychology
Advisor
Susan H. Marcus
Abstract
Wrongful conviction is often due to misidentification, particularly cross-cultural misidentification. DNA errors and other influences (including weapon focus effect, mugshot error, police suggestibility) also increase the risk of wrongful conviction, and the process of exoneration is onerous. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the experience of cross-cultural misidentification, wrongful conviction, exoneration, and the return to society of formerly incarcerated men. Implicit bias theory served as the theoretical framework and refers to both attitudes and stereotypes that people hold without realizing it and which unconsciously affect the way they see a particular person or event. A narrative analysis was conducted to capture each participant’s individual story relating their experiences from wrongful conviction to the present moment. The results of the two participant narratives revealed parallel experiences of cross-racial misidentification and wrongful conviction. Both individuals revealed struggles and humiliations during prison, and the combination of tremendous personal effort plus fortuitous circumstances that led to their ultimate exoneration. Both have been able to rebuild their lives, cultivate family and friends, and work to help others in similar circumstances. Research recommendations include both quantitative and qualitative examinations of the judicial process, and social change implications include using these findings to make substantive, immediate changes to the ongoing injustice of wrongful conviction.
Recommended Citation
Ross-Elster, Miki L., "The Narratives of Cross-Cultural Misidentification and Exoneration in Wrongly Convicted Men" (2022). Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies. 12543.
https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/12543
