Juror characteristics and the effects on not guilty by reason of insanity verdicts.

详细信息   

• 作者：Wanner ; Ashley M.
• 学历：Psy.D.
• 年：2016
• 毕业院校：Alliant International University.bSacramento, CSFS.
• Department：Criminology.
• ISBN：9781321853117
• CBH：3709666
• FileSize：2793155
• Pages：113

文摘

The objective of the current study was to confirm that attitudinal factors (i.e., insanity and death penalty attitudes) and juror characteristics have a significant relationship with verdict decision in cases for which a Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity (NGRI) defense is utilized. A random convenience sample of participants was recruited through a snow-ball sampling technique. Of the initial 176 participants, 113 completed minimum research components (e.g., demographic/voir dire questionnaire, Insanity Defense Attitude-Revised [IDA-R] scale, and Attitude Toward the Death Penalty [ATDP] scale) to be included in the study. Participants ranged in age from 18--74 years old, represented nineteen of California's counties, and demonstrated diversity for a variety of demographics factors including gender, ethnicity, marital status, political beliefs, religious beliefs, education level, household income, and present employment status. All included participants reported to meet minimum criteria to be a Californian juror. Statistical analyses supported hypotheses that there is a significant relationship between insanity attitudes and NGRI verdict decision, insanity attitudes and death penalty attitudes, and demographic factors and NGRI verdict decision. Post-hoc analyses indicated that ATDP and IDA-R was a predictive model of NGRI verdict decision. Furthermore, reduction in IDA-R score appeared to increase the likelihood of support of an NGRI verdict decision. The findings of the current study have implications for the voir dire process of jury trials, with the intention of contributing to the identification of jurors who are unable to be fair triers of fact due to specific individual characteristics.