Date of Submission

5-4-2026

Document Type

Thesis

Department

Psychology

Advisor

Johanna Hellgren, Ph.D.

Keywords

Mental Health Disorder, Criminal Responsibility, Recidivism, Legal Decision Making

LCSH

Mental Health, Criminal liability, Recidivism, Schizophrenia, Judicial discretion

Abstract

Mental health plays a significant role in the criminal justice system. Preconceived notions of mental health may enter the courtroom through triers of fact. Misconceptions based on mental health stigma may have an impact on the judgment about a defendant. The current study examined the impact of mental illness type (schizophrenia, generalized anxiety disorder, antisocial personality disorder, no mental health disorder) and violence level associated with a criminal act (violent crime, non-violent crime) using a 4x2 between-subjects design. Participants read vignettes of a criminal case summary and assessed criminal c and potential sentencing outcomes. Results indicated that mental illness significantly influenced perceptions, specifically defendants with schizophrenia were perceived as less responsible and this impacted sentencing recommendations. Defendants with schizophrenia were less likely to receive prison time, and more likely to receive mental health treatment than all other conditions. Results indicate that misconceptions of schizophrenia inducing less perceived criminal responsibility would impact judicial fairness and consistency.

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