Date of Graduation
Summer 2021
Degree
Master of Science in Psychology
Department
Psychology
Committee Chair
W. Paul Deal
Abstract
This study addresses the influence of mental disorder in the perceptions of guilt in offenses by offenders with DSM-V mental disorders. An attitudes survey and vignettes describing combinations of DSM-V disorders and offenses were distributed to 42 participants at Missouri State University, who were then asked to make guilt judgements and rate the magnitude of guilt of the vignette characters. An ANOVA test revealed no significant difference between conditions with mental disorders versus conditions without mental disorders. A regression analysis found significant relationships between guilt ratings and specific mental disorder conditions. Type of mental disorder was concluded to influence the ratings of guilt in offenses committed by offenders with mental illnesses. Future research should examine more DSM-V mental disorders with forensic samples.
Keywords
mentally ill offenders, perception of guilt, attitudes, media influence, correspondent inference theory, labeling theory, attribution theory
Subject Categories
Clinical Psychology | Criminology
Copyright
© Sydney N. Stone
Recommended Citation
Stone, Sydney N., "The Influence of DSM-5 Mental Disorders and Type of Offense on Perceived Guilt of Offenders" (2021). MSU Graduate Theses. 3645.
https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/theses/3645
