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Mental illness in crime research paper topics
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Isaiah Washington Eng-106 February 8, 2017 Professor Skeen How We Decide a Criminal Is “Insane”? Insanity can be established if a person doesn’t have the conscientious mindset that knows right from wrong with no remorse, somebody that lives in their own fantasy world and cannot separate fantasy from reality; has abnormal burst of emotions like talking to a figment of imagination, aggression, and emotionally unstable. In my view the definition of “Insane” is the mind state when an individual doesn’t identify the difference between their imagination and reality. The cause of behavior when a person starts to behave in such a matter that might be viewed as “abnormal” and doesn’t realize or doesn’t care once they do notice it. Also, a person …show more content…
She was a great mother of five children and wife to a husband until after here fourth child, that lead to the attempt of suicide because she suffered from postpartum depression the doctor prescribed Haldol to help battle the depression. Andrea continued to live a near normal life until her psychiatrist stopped her prescription it then created a spiral of unfortunate events (Roche., 2002, p. 1-3). One day she was home alone watching the kids, she said “the devil told me to kill my kids or if not killed they would be tormented by demons,” she then begun to drown each child in the bathtub to “save” them from being tormented (Roche., 2002, p. 1-3). Yates then placed all five children in a bed side by side to hide the bodies because she knew that people would question the whereabouts of the children, but by doing this she truly thought she was saving her children (Roche., 2002, p. 1-3). Andrea Yates was emotionally unstable, and couldn’t differentiate imagination from reality. In the end, she knew exactly what she did would be seen unfit which makes her seem sane because she started to become depressed after she killed her children and was sentenced with life in prison (Roche., 2002, p. …show more content…
Bundy was a very closed person for much of his life, and at a young age had episodes of aggression. At the age of three he became moved with knives (Biography.com Editors et al., (n.d.), para.2), when in the classroom, he excelled, but outside of school he did not socialize well and had a hard time making friends. At the start of high school is when the episodes began to darken, he became a peeping Tom looking through stranger’s windows with no intention of stealing items he just wanted the person (Biography.com Editors et al., (n.d.), para.2). Bundy graduated from high school and then enrolled at the University of Washington, he fell in love with a girl from California, and when they broke up he was devastated (Biography.com Editors et al., (n.d.), para.3). For many years, he would stumble across a girl that looked like his ex-girlfriend and he would kill them out of revenge (Biography.com Editors et al., (n.d.), para.3). Ted would violate the bodies by raping them following a gruesome beating to death, after being finally being caught by authorities he was connected to more than thirty-six murders, but it is thought he committed one hundred more (Biography.com Editors et al., (n.d.), para.3). In the case Ted Bundy was viewed as insane due to the fact he murdered multiple innocent girls knowing it was not right, was emotionally unstable (Denver Law Review et al., 2016,
A mentally insane person, according to psychologytoday.com, is defined as “a person cannot distinguish fantasy from reality… or is subject to uncontrollable impulsive
Andrea Yates was a woman that did the unthinkable, killed all five of her children. She suffered from a state of depression, using religion as an excuse and had many signs before this happened.
The punishment in the State of Texas for committing two capital crimes is life in jail or the death penalty. Andrea’s lawyer tried to show her innocence by protesting that she was insane at the time of the killings. This plea of insanity could have kept her from life in jail or the death penalty. Sure, she would have served a couple years in jail, but she would have been given the opportunity to come out on parole. Now, if this lady was insane like some believe, then how could she know she committed a crime and not know she was doing wrong when actually drowning the children? Mrs. Yates knew exactly that she hurt the innocent children and was awfully aware of what was going on. Mrs. Yates even called the police and her husband to inform them of what she had done. If the death penalty was on her mind while she was drowning the children, then she might have shown some moral awareness before drowning them instead of after they had died. I believe Andrea to be a sane woman, even though she was depressed or had postpartum depression.
He has assaulted and murdered numerous young women and girls during the 1970’s. Bundy admitted to authorities that he murdered thirty women. However, he is thought to have murdered over one-hundred people, not just exclusive to women, though he never confessed to these killings. In his last interview Bundy seems to portray a very ordinary and highly intelligent man with an ordinary childhood. He seems like someone incapable of committing the acts of violence and murder that he has. Bundy had become a very popular killer in the media due to his charismatic charm. Often having some individuals even feel pity for him. Ted Bundy is the definition of the term psychopath. He found pleasure out of murder, and his actions were not derived from his upbringing, but a hereditary link for psychopathy that had formed deep inside his
For as long as man has walked the earth, so has evil. There may be conflicting moral beliefs in this world, but one thing is universally considered wrong: serial killers. Although some people may try to use insanity as an explanation for these wicked people, they cannot explain away the heartlessness that resides in them. As shown in The Stranger Beside Me, infamous serial killer Ted Bundy is no exception to this. Even though books about true crimes may be considered insensitive to those involved, the commonly positively reviewed book The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule handles the somber issue of Ted Bundy’s emotionally destructive early life and the brutal crimes he committed that made people more fearful and aware of the evil that can exist in seemingly normal people well.
Ted Bundy Ted Bundy's Trail of Terror From the Beginning of Taking Life Until The End of His Life. Serial killers tend to be white heterosexual males in their twenties and thirties. While it is impossible to predict who will become a serial killer, there are traits that appear to be similar in all killers. These behaviors include cruelty to animals, bedwetting, lying, drug and alcohol abuse, and a history of violence. According to Robert Ressler et al., "serial homicide involves the murder of separate victims with time breaks between victims, as minimal as two days to weeks or months.
For those that don’t know, the insanity plea, as defined by Cornell Law, is based on the fact that a person accused of a crime can acknowledge that he/she committed the crime, but argue that he/she is not responsible for it because of his or her mental illness, by pleading “not guilty by reason of insanity”. This first became a problem in 1843. Daniel M’Naughten was trialed for shooting the secretary of the Prime Minister in attempt to assassinate the Prime Minister himself. It was said that M’Naughten thought the Prime Minister was the person behind all his personal and financial problems. The jury ruled him “not guilty by reason of insanity”. The reason for the verdict was M’Naughten...
The criteria for insanity has changed due to the different criminal cases that people are faced with and there isn’t a fine line between sanity and insanity. From what I have researched, I find that there could be a fine line drawn between sanity and insanity. My criterion for insanity is for a person not to know the difference between right and wrong. My criteria matched well with the M’Naghten Rule which states, “Defendant either did not understand what he or she did, or failed to distinguish right from wrong, because of a ‘disease of mind’” (Reuters, Para. 6) I find that because of today’s society and our need to justify people’s actions, the meaning of the M’Naughten Rule and the fine line between insanity and sanity have lost their value. We focus on the being fair instead of the justice of crimes or any given action. The most important the person must go through extensive evaluation and be diagnosed with a mental disorder that may lead to such violence. Many may say that they didn’t know what they were doing but if there is a motive then that doesn’t mean that the person is insane. I have discovered that people get away with so much in result that they can plead insanity. Many criminal cases nowadays are coming out and admit that those convicted and pleaded guilty of insanity due to a mental disorder, were forging their insanity. We refuse to acknowledge that a sane person could kill people but learn that these people have the ability and desire to do such horror to other people. To diagnose someone with insanity, according to the observation of the Andrea Yates, one must suffer and be diagnosed with a form of a mental disorder.
Ted Bundy: attractive, charming, funny, witty, intelligent, and a life saver. But also evil, manipulative, inhumane, psychotic, and a life taker. Serial killer Ted Bundy’s known killings began from 1974 – 1978. With a confirmed total of 36 women murdered in the states of Colorado, Oregon, Utah, Idaho, Florida, and Washington; Bundy allegedly holds the title of “one of the most notorious criminals of the late 20th century.”
Andrea Yates craved a quite household. With four young boys and a female infant, Andrea was constantly engulfed in noise. Also, the death of Andrea’s father had caused her to feel as if she was a terrible caregiver and she was responsible for his death. Andrea also felt that every time her children had behaved incorrectly she was at fault, fearing that she would hold her children back in life. Andrea had even attempted suicide twice because she felt that she was an incompetent mother to her children and felt that they would be more successful without
Insanity is the state of being seriously mentally ill. The narrator of The Tell-Tale Heart, a short story written by Edgar Allan Poe, was convicted of a murder. He showed various characteristics in which many people would describe a insane, such as hearing and seeing things that really are not there. Many who struggle with mental illness share these same characteristics, and are unable to live a life in which they can think clearly, logically and thoroughly. It is something that those with mental illness struggle with on a day to day basis. The narrator of The Tell-Tale Heart was insane, because those who are mentally unstable cannot differentiate reality from fantasy, hear and see things that are not there, and they do not have a clear
Insanity is a legal, not a medical definition. This makes mental illness and insanity correlate with each other, only some mental illnesses are consider as inanity. Insanity includes not only the mental, illness but also mental deficiencies. There are major problems in exactly how to apply a medical theory to legal matters. Every crime involves a physical and mental act and the non-physical cause of behavior. The mens rea is the mental element that would be required for a crime, if it is absent it excuses the criminal from criminal responsibility...
When you use the insanity defense, you're pleading that you are not guilty by reason of insanity or guilty by reason of insanity, or some variation along those lines, depending on the state in which you're charged. If you can prove you were legally insane at the time you committed the crime for which you're on trial, you can expect to be sentenced to psychiatric treatment rather than convicted and imprisoned.
When viewed from a strictly medical, psychological aspect, Andrea Yates medical history indicates that after the birth of her first child, she began to suffer from various forms of depression and suicide attempts. If one only examines the paper trail and doesn’t think beyond what the medical history does or does not indicate, then perhaps, Andrea would be innocent by reason of mental insanity as the 2006 acquittal suggest. However, when viewed form a legal aspect there are several inconstancies that challenge if this former nurse was insane or if she in fact premeditated the murder of her children as well as her acquittal.
Another criminology theory that may apply to help explain the criminal behavior of Ted Bundy is the Psychodynamic theory. This theory is largely based on the findings of Sigmund Freud. The underpinnings of this of the approach are that the unconscious mind affects behavior and emotion. The theory advances the argument that no behavior is without cause and that childhood experiences affect emotions and behavior as adults. Serial killers like Ted Bundy therefore are particularly affected by their unconscious mind. Bundy did not receive proper care as a young boy and the negative impact of his sense of rejection and isolation negatively impacted his adulthood with aggressive tendencies. In short, Bundy’s adult actions under this theory can be viewed as manifesting his anger over his childhood oppression in the form of brutal rapes and