SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

ACTIVITY 3

1) What persuasion strategies were used by the lawyers or by members of the jury?
(Provide at least one specific example from the film).

The persuasion strategy used here is

Logos: Appeal based on reason or logic. Logical reasons or examples/the logic used to
support a claim (induction and deduction); can also be the facts and statistics used to
help support the argument.

Juror 8:

• Asked the jurors to discuss this for just an hour; won’t “send a boy off to die without
talking about it first”

• Made each small point of his persuasion very easy to accept and as logical as
possible so none of the rest could easily object to it

During the debate in the small private room (208A). When he persuading, he does only
small step at time. He gets the rest of the juror accept to his small point. Then another
and another until he has got to his final destination. He makes his small point very
logical possible.

Personalizing: An emotional appeal. Personalize the issue. Tell a story about how it
affected a person’s life. Establishing a bond between the persuader and the consumer.

Juror 8:

• Asks the jurors to imagine the accused was their child.

2). Describe the concept of "groupthink." Did groupthink affect the jury in the way
described by your text?

The Group think does affect the jury. The most obvious symptom is the act of
stereotyping. An argument the occurred from of one the men that favored ‘guilty’ stated
that the young boy was obviously guilty of murdering his father, solely based on the fact
that the boy grew up from the slums of the city where murder occurs all the time.

The reason why majority of the men first agreed on convicting the young boy, was due
to direct pressure on opposser. This is groupthink symptom, which states the coercive
force that obliges group members to behave and think in similar ways. It seemed that
the man who greatly was in favor of convicting the young boy the most intimidated the
others with his verbal harassment caused the others to conform to his ideas.

Another groupthink symptom is reliance on self-appointed-mind guards. This symptom

states contrary information from outside influences was not welcomed in the group. As
the only man who believed that young boy was not guilty presented his ideas, the same
man who was in favor of sentencing the young boy to death the most continued to
disregard all the new information even when presented with supporting evidence.

3. How might prejudice and stereotyping have affected the way members of the jury
perceived the defendant?

The boy grew up from the slums of the city where murder occurs all the time. The boy
was prejudiced of the environment he came from.

"I think we would be better off if we took these tough kids and slapped them down
before they make trouble, you know? 3rd juror.

Juror 3 is the most prejudiced. He got in a fight with his son, son punched him, ran away
and hasn’t seen him since, then felt embarrassed after telling the other jurors. He is
generalizing based on his own experience with his son (wanted to make him a man,
kids are ungrateful, etc )

His prejudice comes from his negative experience from his own son.
"Yeah, well I’ve got one. He’s twenty. We did everything for that boy, and what
happened? When he was sixteen we had a battle. He hit me in the face. He’s big,
y’know. I haven’t seen him in two year. Rotten kid." (3rd juror, page 18).

One of the jurors is yelling/ranting about giving the boy a chance..

"There’s not one of them whose any good. Now do you hear that, not one. .. ignorant
bastards… That kid on trial, his type, they’re multiplying… they’re wild animals… I say
get him before his kind gets us."

These stereotypes makes these kids feel trapped.

Submitted by

VELLORE RAJENDRAN VIMAL

22/10/2020