Criminally insane; exploring society’s attitude and understanding of the insanity defense
Authors
Condon, Alyson
Issue Date
2022
Degree
Higher Diploma in Psychology
Publisher
Dublin Business School
Rights holder
Rights
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Abstract
The overall aim of the study is to explore society's understanding of why the insanity defense is necessary in a criminal court setting. This will be achieved by thematically analysing responses to an open-ended question based on society's
understanding of why mentally ill defendants receive more lenient sentencing once convicted. Furthermore, the study will quantitatively identify any population trends in the sample population pertaining to gender, or a participant's generation. This will be achieved by conducting a variety of statistical analysing; including Chi Square, Simple Linear Regression and Independent T-Test. Four themes emerged in the thematic analysis; Diminished responsibility, Medical Intervention, Generational Gap in Language and Responsibility and Lack of Conscious Intent suggesting society has an empathetic and understanding attitude towards the defense. The statistical test supports this assumption and additionally suggests that neither gender or generation influence a participant's attitude toward the defense.