Abstract

Approximately 20% of incarcerated individuals in jails and 15% of those in state prisons have been diagnosed with a serious mental illness, meaning that there are approximately 356,000 incarcerated persons with serious mental illness in jails and prisons alone (Torrey et al., 2014). Today, mental health stigma is widely prevalent amongst society and particularly there is a strong stigma associated with mental illness and criminality (Mossière & Maeder, 2015). Society typically perceives verdicts associated with insanity/mental illness as an alternative for not wanting to take responsibility for one’s actions and as a “loop-hole” to get out of serving time (Hans & Slater, 1983). These misconceptions can generate biases and stereotypes in regard to the insanity defense and accused individuals diagnosed with mental illness. The present study aimed to address these biases and stereotypes by examining what factors may impact mock-jurors’ attitudes toward the insanity defense. The findings from this study imply that participant demographics and personal experience with mental health does impact perceptions towards the insanity defense as well as mental health in general. Future directions, implications, and limitations are discussed.

Document Type

Article

Source Publication

Journal of Scientific Psychology

Version

Published Version

Publication Date

10-2023

Rights

© The Author(s)

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