Mock Juror Attribution of Criminal Responsibility -- Effects of Race and the Guilty But Mentally Ill (GBMI) Verdict Option

• NCJ Number: 132306
• Journal: Journal of Applied Social Psychology Volume: 20 Issue: 19 Dated: (1990) Pages: 1596-1611
• Author(s): R L Poulson
• Date Published: 1990
• Length: 16 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

A mock-trial was presented by audiotape and slide show to 197 college student subjects (96 percent of whom were white) at Northwestern University. This study examines the effects of race and the "Guilty But Mentally Ill" (GBMI) verdict on their decisionmaking.

Abstract

The subjects passed a verdict of "Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity" (NGRI) significantly more when the defendant was presented as black then as white. Their decisions were not affected by race of victim, and their verdicts of "guilty" and NGRI both dropped by two-thirds when the GBMI option was made available. The results suggest that whites may tend to perceive blacks in general as less mentally stable and therefore less criminally liable, and they may perceive certain types of crimes as more typical of black defendants than of white defendants. These and other questions deserve further empirical testing. 3 tables and 20 references (Author abstract modified)