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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
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)

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