A fate worse than death: Sentence lengths for Guilty but Mentally Ill defendants in the Indiana Legal System Open Access

Abstract

Previous studies have suggested that in criminal cases defendants who are disposed Guilty but Mentally Ill will receive longer sentences and spend more time confined than mentally healthy defendants who are guilty of the same crimes. However, research has been limited in both scope and scale, and has not examined the relationship between other moderating variables such as sex and race. This study utilizes criminal court records in the state of Indiana from 2012-2021 and examines sentence lengths for Guilty but Mentally Ill (GBMI) defendants compared with sentence lengths for Guilty verdicts. In line with previous research, for most categories of crime GBMI defendants received a longer average sentence than Guilty defendants. This pattern was especially obvious amongst more violent crimes (homicide, assault, etc.). Moderating variables such as being non-white vs white and being male vs female, were found to be significant predictors of sentence length, however, being disposed Guilty but Mentally Ill was found to be the largest predictor of sentence length by a substantial margin. These findings imply a societal bias against individuals with mental health issues, which inadvertently creates further inequality. Based on the results of this study further research should be done testing the expanse of these impacts, and steps should be taken to reshape how the court handles cases involving mental health.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………. 1

Intention of Guilty but Mentally Ill Verdict …………………………………………………... 4

Questioning the GBMI Verdict ………………………………………………………………….. 7

Research on Intention Fulfillment ……………………………………………………………… 8

Treatment ………………………………………………………………………………... 8

Effect on Guilty and NGRI Acquittals …………………………………………………... 9

Juror Misunderstanding ………………………………………………………………... 10

Attorney and Client Misunderstanding ………………………………………………… 12

Characteristics of a Guilty but Mentally Ill Offender- Likelihood of Re-offense ……... 13

Sentence Length and Current Study …………………………………………………………… 14

Method …………………………………………………………………………………………. 17

Participants ……………………………………………………………………………... 18

Data Preparation ………………………………………………………………………... 19

Study Design and Analysis …………………………………………………………….. 21

Results ………………………………………………………………………………………….. 21

Descriptive Statistics …………………………………………………………………… 21

Tests of Hypotheses ……………………………………………………………………. 23

Discussion ……………………………………………………………………………………… 25

Interpretation of Findings ……………………………………………………………… 26

Limitations ……………………………………………………………………………... 28

Future Directions ………………………………………………………………………. 29

Conclusions …………………………………………………………………………………….. 30

References ……………………………………………………………………………………… 31

Appendix A …………………………………………………………………………………….. 34

About this Honors Thesis

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School	Emory College
Department	Psychology
Degree	B.A.
Submission	Honors Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Law Psychology, General
Keyword	Sentence Lengths Criminal Sentencing Criminal Court Mental Health Guilty but Mentally Ill (GBMI) Mental Illness
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Patricia Bauer, Emory University
Committee Members	Elaine Walker, Emory University Michael Leo Owens , Emory University

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