Date of Award
2026
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Psychology
Committee Chair
Lauren Meaux
Committee Member
Shauna Bowes
Committee Member
Jodi Price
Research Advisor
Lauren Meaux
Subject(s)
Prosecution--Decision making, Mentally ill offenders, Plea bargaining
Abstract
As most criminal cases are now resolved via plea-bargaining, research on legal decision making has extended beyond the jury to evaluate judges, defense attorneys, and prosecutors. Although legal actors are obliged to remain objective and dispassionate, extralegal factors regarding defendant characteristics (e.g., age, gender, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic class) can influence case outcomes. Extant research on the effect of defendant mental health status and defendant demeanor on sentencing outcomes in court hearings is limited. Therefore, the present experiment solicited 134 prosecutors in a vignette study designed to assess how extralegal characteristics, specifically those related to mental illness, may affect the punitiveness of the plea deal offered. Two defendant factors were manipulated across four conditions: the presence or absence of a schizophrenia diagnosis and the presence or absence of emotional expressivity at arraignment. The outcome measure was the participants’ initial plea offer. Contrary to hypotheses, the manipulation of these defendant factors did not have a statistically significant effect on plea offers. These findings suggest the presence of a schizophrenia diagnosis or the presence of emotional expressivity at arraignment may not have an influence on prosecutorial decision making during the plea process. Future research should explore whether similar effects are found in archival case data.
Recommended Citation
Martin, Claire Elise, "The influence of defendant mental illness characteristics on prosecutorial decision making" (2026). Theses. 809.
https://louis.uah.edu/uah-theses/809