Analysis of Hispanic representation and conceptualization in psychology and law research

Hispanics are now the largest minority group in the United States, yet research examining the impact this will have on the American legal system is limited. The first purpose of this article was to synthesize the studies that have been conducted, which have found that Hispanics have a perspective toward the police, the courts and the law, and jury decision making that is unique from those of Caucasians and other ethnic groups. The second purpose of this article was to analyze whether psychology and law research has been conducted in a manner conducive to identifying this unique Hispanic perspective. An analysis of 800 articles published in five psychology and law journals revealed that, while Hispanics were typically conceptualized properly, the proportion of articles devoted to the Hispanic perspective is disturbingly low. To increase understanding of the Hispanic perspective, psychology and law researchers must increase the amount of empirical attention given to Hispanics.