Effects of Behavioral Genetic Evidence on Perceptions of Criminal Responsibility and Appropriate Punishment.

ABSTRACT: Demonstrations of a link between genetic variants and criminal behavior have stimulated increasing use of genetic evidence to reduce perceptions of defendants' responsibility for criminal behavior and to mitigate punishment. However, because only limited data exist regarding the impact of such evidence on decision makers and the public at large, we recruited a representative sample of the U.S. adult population (n=960) for a web-based survey. Participants were presented with descriptions of three legal cases and were asked to: determine the length of incarceration for a convicted murderer; adjudicate an insanity defense; and decide whether a defendant should receive the death penalty. A fully crossed, between-participants, factorial design was used, varying the type of evidence (none, genet

SUBMITTER: Appelbaum PS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4521637 | biostudies-literature | 2015 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature