Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Stigma And Juror Bias Toward Mentally Ill Defendants, Sydney Garrison

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This study examined the influence of mental illness on mock juror decisions in a criminal case. With the knowledge that mental illness continues to be highly stigmatized, I hypothesized that the presence of a mental illness in a defendant of a violent crime would have significant effects on participants’ case decisions and their perception of the defendant’s guilt. Participants in the study read a fictional vignette describing a homicide and a defendant in which the defendant’s mental illness diagnosis was varied (major depressive disorder, schizophrenia, borderline personality disorder, no mental illness). Participants were then required to answer 6 questions regarding …