Date of Award
Summer 6-2018
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department/Program
Forensic Psychology
Language
English
First Advisor or Mentor
Cynthia Calkins
Second Reader
Elizabeth Jeglic
Third Advisor
Gabrielle Salfati
Abstract
Although mental illness is common in the sex offender population, it has never been examined how evidence of such may influence societal perception. In comparison to the non-sex offender population, it was hypothesized that participants would consider mental illness less mitigating for sex offenders, would be less likely to support the mental health treatment of sex offenders while incarcerated, and would consider certain mental illnesses (schizophrenia and substance abuse disorders) as particularly aggravating for this group of offenders. Respondents were asked to read a short vignette and then respond to a series of questions about culpability, sentencing decisions, and mental health treatment. Results from this study suggest that the public is less likely to consider mental illness as a mitigating factor in the sex offender population, in turn believing they should receive harsher prison sentences and are less deserving of alternatives to incarceration in comparison to non-sex offenders with identical symptomatology. However, mental illnesses considered especially dangerous were not particularly aggravating in the sex offender population. Future directions may examine how these findings differ based on various sex offenses.
Recommended Citation
Bartram, Keely A., "Does Mental Illness Affect Societal Perception of Sex Offenders?" (2018). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/jj_etds/63
Included in
Criminology Commons, Criminology and Criminal Justice Commons, Psychology Commons, Social Control, Law, Crime, and Deviance Commons, Social Psychology and Interaction Commons, Social Statistics Commons