title: Putting negative attitudes on the agenda? Not Criminally Responsible Reform Act publicity and juror decision-making.
abstract: The current study examined the effect of publicity about Canada's recent Not Criminally Responsible (NCR) Reform Act - legislation surrounding accused in insanity cases that purportedly aims to enhance public safety - on juror decision-making. In line with agenda-setting theory, we expected that NCR Reform Act publicity might reinforce certain fears about the insanity defence, dependent on whether it had either a positive or negative evaluative slant. Contrary to previous work on the insanity defence, participants in this study generally favoured a NCR verdict. The evaluative slant of the NCR publicity had no effect on verdict decisions or insanity defence attitudes, but there was a significant difference in participants' evaluations of the fairness of the Reform Act, such that those exposed to a positive or control article viewed the act as fairer than those exposed to a negative article. This study may aid future researchers in evaluating potential unintended consequences of the NCR Reform Act.
authors.affiliation: Carleton University, Canada. Electronic address: evelyn.maeder@carleton.ca.
authors.forename: Evelyn M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Maeder
authors.affiliation: Carleton University, Canada.
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.affiliation: Carleton University, Canada.
authors.forename: Lesley
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zannella
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001290:Attitude; D002170:Canada; D003415:Crime / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000523:psychology; D003416:Criminal Law / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007298:Insanity Defense; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Agenda-setting; Insanity defence; Juror decision-making; Not criminally responsible reform act