Guest Lecture Series "Society: Status Quo and Normative Change"
Wrongful convictions represent one of the most serious failures of the criminal justice system. While exoneration formally restores an individual’s legal innocence, research shows that social and psychological consequences often persist long after release. Exonerees frequently encounter public skepticism, stigma, and difficulties rebuilding their lives, raising important questions about how innocence is communicated and understood.
This presentation provides an overview of contemporary research on wrongful convictions and exonerations, drawing on growing international literature and insights from the European Registry of Exonerations (EUREX). After discussing the causes and consequences of wrongful convictions, it examines emerging European patterns in exoneration cases and what they reveal about systemic vulnerabilities within criminal justice systems.
The second part focuses on recent empirical studies of public responses to wrongful conviction and exoneration. Three preregistered experimental studies investigate whether institutional apologies, identification of the true perpetrator, and the underlying cause of the wrongful conviction influence perceptions of exonerees, with particular attention to perceived guilt, stigma, trust in the justice system, and support for compensation. The findings inform debates about whether exoneration alone is sufficient to restore reputation or whether doubts about guilt remain remarkably resilient.
By connecting case-based evidence from EUREX with experimental psychological research, this presentation highlights the challenges exonerees face after release and explores the conditions under which public trust and social acceptance can be restored.