Public Perceptions of Diminished Responsibility
STUDY BACKGROUND
You are being asked to take part in a research study on the Public’s Perceptions of the Defence of Diminished Responsibility which is led by Danielle McCann and supervised by Dr Nkansah Anakwah in the College of Psychology at Birmingham City University. The project has been approved by the Psychology Research Ethics Committee.
WHAT WILL YOU NEED TO DO?
You will be asked to consent to the study after reading this information sheet should you wish to take part. You will then be asked to make a unique code made up of the first two letters of the street you grew up on and the first three letters of your favourite colour. Therefore, if you grew up on MArks Street and your favourite colour was GREen. Your unique code would be – MAGRE. It is vital you make a note of your code should you wish to withdraw your responses from the study.
In this study, you will be asked to read a case study that briefly outlines a murder case, it will also detail information on the defendants mental state.
Diminished responsibility is a partial criminal defence against murder whereby the defendant is required to prove they were not fully responsible for the crime they committed due to mental illness.
The case study takes an average 2-3 minutes to read and then you will be required to answer the 20 questions of the Attitudes Towards Mentally Ill Offenders (ATMIO) questionnaire which assess your attitudes towards offenders with a mental health condition and those who use the defence of diminished responsibility in court. Example questions from the ATMIO questionnaire are ‘Mentally ill offenders don’t fully understand their crimes’ and ‘Mentally ill offenders are not completely responsible for their crimes’.
WHO IS ELIGIBLE TO TAKE PART?
You are eligible to take part if you are 18 years or older and live in the UK.
You are not eligible to take part if you have been diagnosed with a psychotic disorder or if you or someone you know has lost a family member or friend through potentially traumatic circumstances.
Please consider whether you find the following topics (murder and psychotic disorders) distressing or upsetting. If so, you are encouraged not to take part.
HOW LONG WILL THE STUDY LAST?
On average, this study takes 5-10 minutes.
ARE THERE ANY RISKS OF TAKING PART?
There are no known risks to this study over and above those experienced in everyday encounters, however there is some psychological risk due to the nature of the case studies presented and the questions you will be required to answer.
WHO TO CONTACT IF YOU ARE AFFECTED BY THE TOPIC OR CONTENT OF THIS STUDY
SAMM
Support after Murder and Manslaughter
Website: https://samm.org.uk/
Helpline: 0121 472 2912
Text: 07342888570
Mind
This service provides advice and support to empower anyone experiencing a mental health problem, you can contact them 24/7.
Website: https://www.mind.org.uk/
Helpline: 0300 123 3393
The Samaritans
Contact a Samaritan if you need someone to talk to. Whatever you're going through, you can call the helpline at any time, from any phone for free.
Website: https://www.samaritans.org/
Helpline: 116123
ARE THERE ANY BENEFITS OF TAKING PART?
Although there are no direct benefits from taking part, it is hoped that after completing this study you will have a deeper understanding of diminished responsibility and an additional perspective on individuals who are diagnosed with a psychotic disorder who commit violent crimes.
YOUR RIGHT TO WITHDRAW AND WITHHOLD INFORMATION
In line with the regulations outlined by the British Psychological Society, you can stop being a part of the research study at any time without explanation. You can also have your data withdrawn up until the 15th July 2024, after this date your data will have been analysed and written up and no longer possible to be withdrawn. Please see contact details below if you wish to withdraw.
During the study, you also have the right to omit or refuse to answer or respond to any question that is asked of you. You can also withdraw from the study while you are completing it by closing the browser. If you have already completed the study, you can contact the researcher using the email address below, stating your unique code and requesting your data to be withdrawn.
YOUR RIGHT TO CONFIDENTIALITY/ANONYMITY
The study will not involve the collection of any personal information about you except your age, sex, and ethnicity.
No other identifiable information will be stored. Your data will be stored using an anonymous ID code. You will be given instructions on how to create this at the beginning of the study.
All data will be stored in accordance with the University’s Data Protection Policy. Data will be anonymised and will be shared between the primary researcher and the supervisor, but it will not be possible to identify your data at any point. The data will be kept until the degree classification has been awarded, after which point it will be stored securely for 10 years for potential publication purposes. If you decide you would like to withdraw your data before 15th July 2024, you will need to provide the anonymous ID code you created at the start of the study and contact me by email Danielle.mccann@mail.bcu.ac.uk
WHO IS ORGANISING THE RESEARCH?
Participants are able to contact me by email at danielle.mccann@mail.bcu.ac.uk or my supervisor Dr Nkansah Anakwah by email at
Nkansah.Anakwah@bcu.ac.uk if you require further information or wish to exercise your right to withdraw.
If you are unhappy at any point in the study, or if there is a problem, please contact the Psychology Department Research ethics committee directly at
psychethics@bcu.ac.uk.
If you have any questions, comments or concerns about how we use or handle your information please contact the Data Protection Officer at: Data Protection Officer, Information Management Team, Birmingham City University, University House, 15 Bartholomew Row, Birmingham B5 5JU, email
informationmanagement@bcu.ac.uk or call +44 (0) 121 331 5288.
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