University of Twente Student Theses
The effect of crime type and knowledge about Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) on the judgement of defendants with ASD
Vermeulen, R.C. (2023) The effect of crime type and knowledge about Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) on the judgement of defendants with ASD.
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| Abstract: | To date, no studies have investigated whether knowledge about ASD or crime type affect the judgement of autistic defendants. Therefore, this study tested the effect of knowledge about ASD and type of crime on the judgement of autistic defendants in a 3 (crime type: assault vs. stalking vs. burglary) × 3 (defendant information: “ASD + Knowledge” vs. ASD vs. control) within-between subjects experimental design. Participants were divided between three groups. In the “ASD + Knowledge” group and the ASD group participants judged an autistic defendant. In the “ASD + Knowledge” group, participants additionally received information about ASD. All participants judged each of the three different cases of which two were relevant for ASD (assault and stalking) and one was not relevant for ASD (burglary). For the autism relevant crimes, defendants with ASD received lower sentences than defendants for whom no diagnosis was mentioned. However, autistic defendants were not judged more leniently for the crime that was not relevant for ASD. Thus, participants did not simply give a preferential treatment to autistic defendants. However, no difference was observed between the participants that did and the participants that did not receive information about ASD. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Master) |
| Faculty: | BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences |
| Subject: | 77 psychology |
| Programme: | Psychology MSc (66604) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/94836 |
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