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Impact of defendant race and gender on mock jurors' sentencing of psychopathic defendants
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Impact of defendant race and gender on mock jurors' sentencing of psychopathic defendants

Heidi Strohmaier
Master of Science (M.S.), Drexel University
Dec 2012
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17918/00010145
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Abstract

Mentally ill offenders--Gender Mentally ill offenders--Race Psychology
Although recent studies have examined the prejudicial effects of labeling a defendant as psychopathic, no research has explored whether the race and gender of a psychopathic defendant impact the manner in which the defendant is evaluated by mock jurors. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether these particular demographic variables interact to influence mock jurors' sentencing recommendations and perceptions of psychopathic defendants. A total of 178 participants were recruited from a large northeastern university and separated into four conditions. Using vignettes, the race (African American or Caucasian) and gender (male or female) of the psychopathic defendant were manipulated. Participants' responses to an online questionnaire were analyzed to examine the hypotheses that the race and gender of a psychopathic defendant interact to affect mock jurors' sentencing recommendations and perceptions of the defendant. Results revealed that participants generally perceived and treated Caucasian male psychopathic defendants most negatively, whereas they tended to perceive and treat Caucasian female psychopathic defendants most favorably. Possible influences of cultural stereotypes and popular culture's depiction of the prototypical Caucasian male psychopath are discussed.

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