A new study reveals that negative stereotypes associated with regional accents can influence perceptions of morality and criminality in the UK, raising concerns about potential bias within the criminal justice system.
Researchers have raised concerns about potential bias in the UK criminal justice system due to negative stereotyping of regional accents . A study conducted by the University of Cambridge, in collaboration with Nottingham Trent University, involved participants listening to accents from England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland to explore perceptions of morality and criminality.
The study, published in Frontiers in Communication, suggests that despite advancements in equality and diversity, including the increased visibility of regional accents in media, harmful stereotypes persist. The researchers recruited 180 participants, evenly split between genders, from across the UK. They were presented with recordings of male voices exhibiting various regional accents, encompassing Belfast, Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, Liverpool, London, and Newcastle, as well as Standard Southern British English (SSBE), also known as received pronunciation (RP). Participants rated the voices on ten social traits: educated, intelligent, rich, working class, friendly, honest, kind, trustworthy, aggressive, and confident. They also evaluated the voices based on ten morally good, bad, and ambiguous behaviors, including criminal acts. These behaviors encompassed returning a lost wallet, defending someone being harassed, cheating on a romantic partner, reporting a relative to police for a minor offense, driving dangerously, physically assaulting someone, shoplifting, unwanted sexual touching, and vandalizing a shop. The study highlights concerns about accented speakers being mistakenly identified during voice parades. It utilized a broader range of accents, behaviors, and criminal offenses compared to previous research, which often focused on general criminal behavior or a binary of white-collar versus blue-collar crime. The study emphasizes that people hold stereotypes about specific accents, and these judgments can influence the legal domain. These stereotypes could potentially impact all aspects of the criminal justice system, from arrest to sentencing, undermining not only suspects and defendants but also witness testimony. Alice Paver, lead author from the University of Cambridge's phonetics lab, stated, 'Voices play a powerful role in the criminal justice system, and police officers, lawyers, and juries are susceptible to judging voices based on stereotypes, whether consciously or not.' She added, 'As it stands, listeners perceive some accents as sounding guiltier than others, and we should all be concerned about that.' The results revealed that individuals with non-standard accents were more likely to be associated with criminal behavior, though perceptions varied significantly across accents. The RP-like accent was perceived as the least likely to engage in criminal acts, except in cases of sexual offenses, while the Liverpool and Bradford accents were perceived as the most likely. Paver explained, 'The strongest connection we found was between people's perceptions of class or status, negative traits such as aggression, and how they think someone is going to behave, particularly when it comes to crime. This is the first time a concrete link between traits and behaviors has been established in the context of accent judgments.' Interestingly, non-English accents, particularly Belfast and Glasgow, were rated as significantly less likely to engage in criminal behavior compared to most other accents. They were also viewed as most likely to 'stand up for someone being harassed,' categorized as 'honourable behavior,' and least likely to exhibit 'morally bad' behaviors. Paver concluded, 'Our findings demonstrate that perceptions of speakers of regional accents and how status, social attractiveness, and morality interact are far more intricate than previously assumed. We need a more nuanced understanding of how accents are evaluated when considering different crime types.
Criminal Justice System Regional Accents Stereotypes Morality Bias Social Perception
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