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Public and Professionals’ Perceptions of Wrongful Convictions in Pakistan: Scale Development and Validation

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Abstract

Wrongful convictions (WC) have been widely studied in law and social sciences, yet, previous research lacks a clear conceptualization and rigorous scientific measurement scale to measure stakeholders’ WC perceptions. Given the significance of stakeholders’ perceptions in influencing policy reforms and transforming the criminal justice system, developing such a measurement scale offers an effective tool to comprehensively understand the relationship between WC and criminal justice system errors/misconduct and guide policymaking. In this study, based on samples of multiple stakeholders in Pakistan, we adopted qualitative and quantitative techniques for WC perception scale development and empirical testing. The results indicated that WC in the criminal justice system context consists of six dimensions, including perceptions of errors and misconduct by the police, prosecutor, judiciary, defense attorney, eyewitness, and forensics. The resulting WC perception measurement scale demonstrated an acceptable level of reliability and validity. The WC perception latent construct with the six resultant dimensions was tested with a structural equation model to assess the association of each perceived sub-construct with WC perception. The findings indicated that the legal professionals, policymakers, and the general public tend to believe that the prosecutors’ and police errors and misconduct are the prime reasons for WC in Pakistan. This study also provides theoretical and practical implications for future studies in relevant fields.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Economics and Management, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou, China

    Sughra Bibi

  2. Guanghua Law School, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, Zhejiang, China

    Sughra Bibi & Le Cheng

  3. International School of Cultural Tourism, Zhejiang University City College, Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China

    Asif Khan

  4. Department of Tourism and Hotel Management, School of Management, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, Zhejiang, China

    Asif Khan

  5. Department of Tourism & Hospitality, Hazara University, Mansehra, 21300, KP, Pakistan

    Asif Khan

  6. Law College, University of Peshawar, Peshawar, Pakistan

    Suhail Shahzad

  7. School of Law, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan

    Arshad Nawaz Khan

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  1. Sughra Bibi
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Appendix. The 34-item questionnaire of WC for CFA and scale validation*

Appendix. The 34-item questionnaire of WC for CFA and scale validation*

Respondents were asked to rate each item based on a 5-point scale for WC:

1 = never, 2 = infrequent, 3 = moderately frequent, 4 = very frequent, and 5 = always.

*The italicized items were removed in the second survey questionnaire based on the results of EFA, making the second survey questionnaire a 26-item survey.

Perceptions of judicial errors and misconduct

  1. 1.

    Judicial error concerning the admissibility of physical evidence

  2. 2.

    Judicial error concerning the admissibility of eyewitness testimony

  3. 3.

    Judicial error concerning the admissibility of expert testimony

  4. 4.

    Error resulting from judicial bias and misconduct

  5. 5.

    Judicial error concerning the admissibility of oral evidence

  6. 6.

    Judicial involvement in wrongful doings

Perceptions of eyewitness errors and misconduct

  1. 7.

    Eyewitness testimony is reliable

  2. 8.

    Misidentification of the suspect intentionally

  3. 9.

    Eyewitness memory is susceptible to errors

  4. 10.

    Eyewitness false identification

  5. 11.

    Eyewitness information is accurate and honest

Perceptions of prosecutor errors and misconduct

  1. 12.

    Prosecutor suppressing exculpatory evidence

  2. 13.

    Inadequate investigation of the case by the prosecutor

  3. 14.

    Prosecutor using undue plea-bargaining pressure

  4. 15.

    Prosecutor prompting witnesses

  5. 16.

    Prosecutor knowingly use false testimony

  6. 17.

    Prosecutor always pushes the defendant for a conviction

Perceptions of police errors and misconduct

  1. 18.

    Inadequate police investigation

  2. 19.

    Police coaching witnesses in pretrial identification procedures

  3. 20.

    Police suppressing exculpatory evidence

  4. 21.

    Police using undue pressure to obtain a confession

  5. 22.

    Police excessively involved in bribes and other misconduct

  6. 23.

    Police using false evidence

Perceptions of forensic errors and misconduct

  1. 24.

    Forensic testimony is false and exaggerated

  2. 25.

    Forensic testimony is reliable

  3. 26.

    Forensic intentional misrepresentation

  4. 27.

    Forensic involvement in misconduct

  5. 28.

    Forensic experts make errors in good faith

Perceptions of defense attorney errors and misconduct

  1. 29.

    Inadequate investigation of the case by defense attorney

  2. 30.

    Defense attorney failing to file proper motions

  3. 31.

    Defense attorney inadequately challenging forensic evidence

  4. 32.

    Defense attorney inadequately challenging witnesses

  5. 33.

    Defense attorney making unwarranted plea-bargain concessions

  6. 34.

    Defense attorney making Bargain concessions with complaint party

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Bibi, S., Khan, A., Cheng, L. et al. Public and Professionals’ Perceptions of Wrongful Convictions in Pakistan: Scale Development and Validation. Asian J Criminol 17 (Suppl 1), 95–120 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11417-022-09386-3

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