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Citation |
Maeder EM, Yamamoto S, Zannella L. Int. J. Law Psychiatry 2016; 49(Pt A): 154-159. |
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Affiliation |
Carleton University, Canada. |
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Copyright |
(Copyright © 2016, Elsevier Publishing) |
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DOI |
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PMID |
27720501 |
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Abstract |
The current study examined the effect of publicity about Canada's recent Not Criminally Responsible (NCR) Reform Act - legislation surrounding accused in insanity cases that purportedly aims to enhance public safety - on juror decision-making. In line with agenda-setting theory, we expected that NCR Reform Act publicity might reinforce certain fears about the insanity defence, dependent on whether it had either a positive or negative evaluative slant. Contrary to previous work on the insanity defence, participants in this study generally favoured a NCR verdict. The evaluative slant of the NCR publicity had no effect on verdict decisions or insanity defence attitudes, but there was a significant difference in participants' evaluations of the fairness of the Reform Act, such that those exposed to a positive or control article viewed the act as fairer than those exposed to a negative article. This study may aid future researchers in evaluating potential unintended consequences of the NCR Reform Act. Language: en |