Related Experiment Videos
Venirepersons's attitudes toward the insanity defense: developing, refining, and validating a scale
Jennifer L Skeem1, Jennifer Eno Louden, Jennee Evans
1Department of Psychology, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Nevada 89154-5030, USA. skeem@unlv.edu
Law and Human Behavior
|March 1, 2005
Summary
Public attitudes toward the insanity defense are often negative. A new scale, the insanity defense attitude-revised (IDA-R) scale, measures these attitudes, finding they relate to strict liability and concerns about justice and safety.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Law
- Sociology
Background:
- Negative public attitudes toward the insanity defense are prevalent.
- Understanding these attitudes is crucial for legal proceedings.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a comprehensive understanding of public attitudes toward the insanity defense.
- To create and validate a reliable measure of these attitudes.
Main Methods:
- Three studies involving 426 venirepersons were conducted.
- The insanity defense attitude-revised (IDA-R) scale was developed, refined, and cross-validated.
Main Results:
- Public attitudes toward the insanity defense are linked to strict liability orientation and concerns about injustice and danger.
- The IDA-R scale demonstrated good internal consistency, validity, and predictive utility.
- The scale's predictive power was consistent across different jurisdictions and case facts.
Conclusions:
- The IDA-R scale effectively measures public attitudes toward the insanity defense.
- Findings have implications for jury selection (voir dire) and understanding public perception of the legal system.