TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2016//
TI  - Putting negative attitudes on the agenda? Not Criminally Responsible Reform Act publicity and juror decision-making
JO  - International journal of law and psychiatry
A1  - Maeder, Evelyn M.
A1  - Yamamoto, Susan
A1  - Zannella, Lesley
SP  - 154
EP  - 159
VL  - 49
IS  - Pt A
N2  - 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.<br><br>Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0160-2527
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlp.2016.08.010
ID  - ref1
ER  -