Defendant's Previous History and Mock Sentencing

• NCJ Number: 94602
• Journal: Journal of Clinical Psychology Volume: 40 Issue: 3 Dated: (May 1984) Pages: 867-874
• Author(s): D A Wear; R A Pasewark
• Date Published: 1984
• Length: 8 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study explores the hypothesis that in simulated situations, mock judges will be influenced significantly by a defendant's previous mental hospitalization history and will apply differential sanctions upon these persons.

Abstract

Six hundred forty-four undergraduates served as mock judges in sentencing male or female defendants convicted of homicide, child molestation, embezzlement, fraudulent issuance of checks, heroin possession, and consensual homosexuality. Defendants had a reported history of psychiatric hospitalization, imprisonment, or neither hospitalization nor incarceration. Results indicated (1) those defendants with a mental health history were more likely to be accorded a disposition that involved mandatory health treatment; (2) dispositions of persons with a mental health history tended to be more restrictive than those of defendants with neither a mental health nor criminal history; and (3) sex of defendant or mock judge influenced sentencing disposition only in child molestation cases. Eighteen references are listed. (Author abstract modified)