Advocacy against the stereotype: Lessons from cognitive social psychology

Recent research in cognitive social psychology and social cognitive neuroscience has powerful implications for lawyers and other advocates in situations where stereotypes are at work. The science suggests that there are, indeed, few advocacy situations where stereotypes are not at work. Legal scholars have attempted to bring some of this science to the attention of courts, with limited success. Meanwhile, lawyers and other advocates have continued their work based on implicit theories about stereotyping and prejudice that we now know to be wrong. As a result, advocacy is often considerably less effective than it might be. In this Article, I provide a brief overview of the rapidly developing science regarding stereotypes and prejudice, and then sketch some of the implications for lawyers and other advocates.