The impact of mental health evidence on support for capital punishment: are defendants labeled psychopathic considered more deserving of death?
Controversy surrounds the use of the Hare Psychopathy Checklist--Revised (Hare, 1991, 2003) in capital murder cases, where it has been introduced to support prosecution claims that a defendant represents a "continuing threat to society". Although widely presumed to have a prejudicial impact (e.g., American Psychological Association, 2004), little is known about how the lay public reacts to data derived from ostensibly stigmatizing assessment instruments such as the PCL-R. The present study examined the effect of psychopathy data on layperson attitudes by having 203 undergraduates review a capital murder case where the results of the defendant's psychological evaluation were experimentally manipulated. When expert testimony described the defendant as psychopathic, a much larger percentage of participants supported a death sentence (60%) than when testimony indicated that he was psychotic (30%) or not mentally disordered (38%). Interestingly, participant ratings of how psychopathic they perceived the defendant to be--regardless of the testimony condition to which they had been assigned--also predicted support for a death sentence. Given the limited probative value of the PCL-R in capital cases and the prejudicial nature of the effects noted in this study, we recommend that forensic examiners avoid using it in these trials.
Edens
John F
JF
Department of Psychology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX 75275, USA. jedens@smu.edu
Colwell
Lori H
LH
Desforges
Donna M
DM
Fernandez
Krissie
K
D000987:Antisocial Personality Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D001290:Attitude; D002203:Capital Punishment; D003617:Dangerous Behavior; D005104:Expert Testimony; D005555:Forensic Psychiatry; D006801:Humans; D011594:Psychometrics; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D012306:Risk; D012938:Social Perception