Mock Juror Perceptions of a Young Defendant With Developmental Language Disorder: A Mixed-Methods Study.
Jasmine Horsham, Katie Maras, Danaë Stanton Fraser and 3 others
PMID 40445737WHAT IT FOUND
Mock jurors who were told a young defendant had developmental language disorder rated him as more honest and likeable, and were less likely to convict him, compared to jurors who were not told.
Awareness of the condition was low, and jurors often misidentified his distress as aggression.
Key findings
01Jurors informed of the defendant's diagnosis rated him as significantly more honest and likeable, but also as having lower cognitive functioning, than uninformed jurors.
02Informed jurors were significantly less likely to return a guilty verdict (48.10% vs 78.48%) and recommended more lenient sentencing than uninformed jurors.
03Informed jurors were more likely to attribute the defendant's behaviour to frustration rather than aggression, and to blame the situation rather than the defendant's character.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
Participants were not real jurors and did not deliberate with others. The study used a written vignette rather than a live trial experience. The sample was predominantly female (75.95%). A significant portion of the uninformed group suspected the defendant had Autism Spectrum Disorder, which may have influenced their ratings. The defendant's IQ was stated as normal in the vignette, yet informed jurors still rated his cognitive functioning lower, suggesting a stereotype about DLD.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The study was funded by the authors' institution.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that simply mentioning a diagnosis will always lead to leniency without understanding the mechanism. The study shows that providing a definition of DLD was crucial because jurors otherwise lacked awareness of the condition; merely noting 'language difficulties' without explaining how they manifest as behaviour (e.g., frustration vs aggression) may not shift perceptions.