Describe the three stages that jury's typically go through when deliberating to arrive at a verdict

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

If the walls of the jury room could talk, they would tell us that the decision making
process typically passes through three stages (Hastie et al., 1983? Stasser et al., 1982).
Like other problem-solving groups, juries begin in a relaxed orientation period during
which they set an agenda, talk in open-ended terms, raise questions, and explore the
facts. Then, once differences of opinion are revealed (usually after the first vote is
taken), factions develop and the group shifts abruptly into a period of open conflict.
With the battle lines sharply drawn, discussion takes on a more focused,
argumentative tone. Together, jurors scrutinize the evidence, construct stories to
account for that evidence, and discuss the judge's instructions (Pennington & Hastie,
1992). If all jurors agree, they return a verdict. If not, the majority tries to achieve a
consensus by converting the holdouts through information and social pressure. If
unanimity is achieved, the group enters a period of reconciliation, during which it
smoothes over the conflicts and affirms its satisfaction with the outcome. If the
holdouts continue to disagree, the jury declares itself hung. This process is diagrammed
in Figure 12.8.