Perceptions of waived juvenile defendants across mental health diagnoses and demographic characteristics

Melanie Taylor; Tatyana Kaplan; Philip Mulvey; Monica K Miller

doi:10.1016/j.ijlp.2019.101474

Perceptions of waived juvenile defendants across mental health diagnoses and demographic characteristics

Int J Law Psychiatry. 2019 Sep-Oct:66:101474. doi: 10.1016/j.ijlp.2019.101474. Epub 2019 Jul 25.

Authors

Melanie Taylor¹, Tatyana Kaplan², Philip Mulvey³, Monica K Miller⁴

Affiliations

¹ 43909 30th St W, Criminal Justice Department, California State University, Bakersfield, Lancaster, CA 93536, United States of America. Electronic address: mtaylor@csub.edu.
² 344 Mack Social Science, Mail Stop 1300, Interdisciplinary Social Psychology Ph.D. Program, University of Nevada, Reno, NV 89557, United States of America. Electronic address: tatyanak@nevada.unr.edu.
³ 411 Schroeder Hall, Department of Criminal Justice Sciences, Illinois State University, Campus Box 5250, Normal, IL 61790-5250, United States of America. Electronic address: pwmulve@ilstu.edu.
⁴ 1664 N. Virginia Mail Stop 214, Criminal Justice Department, University of Nevada, Reno, NV 89557, United States of America. Electronic address: mkmiller@unr.edu.

PMID: 31706382
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijlp.2019.101474

Abstract

Justice involved youth who present with diagnosable mental health issues are commonly prosecuted in criminal courts. Limited research has examined how jurors perceive and respond to transferred juveniles with mental health issues. For the current study, 252 mock jurors were randomly assigned to read one of six profiles (i.e., White male, White female, Black male, Black female, Latino, and Latina) and report culpability, deserved punishment, behavior regulation, and dangerousness for juveniles diagnosed with conduct disorder, major depressive disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, schizophrenia, and described with antisocial traits/behaviors. A schizophrenia diagnosis was associated with less blame, punishment, and capacity for behavior regulation. A description of antisocial traits/behaviors was associated with more blame, punishment, capacity for behavior regulation, and dangerousness. White juveniles described with antisocial traits were considered more blameworthy and deserving of punishment than Latinos. Considering the temporary nature of adolescent antisocial personality characteristics, jurors should have greater awareness of the maturation process.

Keywords: Gender; Juror decision-making; Juvenile offenders; Mental health; Race.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Analysis of Variance
Decision Making*
Demography
Ethnicity / psychology
Female
Humans
Juvenile Delinquency / psychology*
Male
Mental Disorders / psychology*
Punishment / psychology
Random Allocation
Social Perception*
United States