Description Of Mental Disorders

885 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Is death penalty cruel and unusual

Mental disorders plays pivotal role in a person’s actions. An insane or mentally ill person has a hard time controlling their actions and behavior. The criminal justice system is well aware that everyone does not have the same mental state. An insane person or a person who has no control over their actions, or thought process who commits a crime will be seen as incompetent to stand trial. Daily functions for those who suffer from a mental disorder are harder for them to deal with. There is no treatment for the illness, however there is treatment that could assist in making that person’s life easier and productive. The diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM) helps many clinicians diagnose certain mental disorders (Bartol, 2014). The DSM also can help officials link certain disorders with crime. With the help of the DSM it helps the criminal justice system realize that these disorders are the reason behind the defendant’s actions, versus it being free will. The disorders that are present in the DSM are also broken down into one of four categories: schizophrenic disorders, paranoid disorders, mood disorders and the personality disorder (Bartol, 2014). Although a person’sa mental state may be disoriented, they are still accountable for their actions if they commit a crime. While there are a select few people who suffer from a mental illness or disorder who cannot control their actions, there are also some who can. The insanity defense is also used and abused by some defendants seeking to receive a less punitive punishment. One major reason why the insanity defense was enforced in courts proceedings is because it will be cruel and unusual punishment to imprison someone who does not understand the charges they ar... ... middle of paper ... ...e jury or judge may fail to realize is that those who suffer a mental disorder lack free will with some of their actions. The most common characteristic seen in those who have mental disorders is the lack of empathy. This lack of empathy plays a role in how gruesome the crimes may be. According to the “men’s rea” no one can be found guilty of a crime if they had no knowledge that their actions were wrong. With the mens rea, the defendant is not required to feel guilty but to know their actions were wrong. If a person cognitive activity is abnormal and they lack empathy due to their mental state how can they be found guilty before the law. 1In many cases when a person is found not guilty by reason of insanity it is not a slap on the risk. To many individuals the insanity defense helps corrupt people be released back to society or face a less punitive punishment

Show More
Related

  • Case Study Of Mark J. Dipietley's Case

    1723 Words  | 4 Pages

    What’s more, the success rate of those cases is only about 26%. Insanity defense can be a possible escape to crime, but in order to state as true the defense of insanity or the insanity plea, the person who is being sued or was sued must declare that he/she is not responsible for his/her actions because of their mental health problem. That person must strongly express that he/she was not aware of the actions. Usually, the first thing that is done in a person’s insanity plea is that he /she needs to go through a thorough mental process. Psychologists or Psychiatrists can help the process on how to figure out the person’s actual state of mind during the crime. However, they are not in the position to decide whether the person is really insane. Only the jury can decide whether the statements in court or the findings support the criminal insanity defense. If the court finds the person is guilty for the possible crime but she or she was not mentally responsible during the time that the crime was committed, often, they will be sent to a psychiatric hospital or placed in a mental hospital for the criminally insane. Usually, punishment is not forever; it will only last until the person is no longer a threat to the people of the world. There are cases where they claim insanity only lasts a certain period of time. This kind of defense is very hard to prove. If the person declares that their

    Read More

  • Who Is Bruco Eastwood Undercover Insanity Plea?

    1230 Words  | 3 Pages

    Many criminals find many ways to get out of jail or being sentenced to death, what goes through their minds? Pleading insanity means to not be guilty of a crime committed due to reason of mental illness. In many cases criminals get away with pleading insanity, but in the end does it always work out? Bruco Eastwood pleaded insanity and therefore his background, crime, and where he is now will be crucial to Brucos’ insanity plea.

    Read More

  • Pros And Cons Of Jeffrey Dahmer's Plea Of Insanity

    3860 Words  | 8 Pages

    With murder charges of fifteen people, cannibalism, and necrophilia hanging over his head, Jeffery Dahmer plead not guilty by reason of insanity. Since Dahmer was a child he had shown withdraws and avoidance of society. He had a habit of collecting dead animals, and he would dissect, dissolve them in many different ways. When Dahmers plea of insanity was rejected by the court, he was then charged with fifteen counts of murder (Yoong). Many believe that when Jeffrey Dahmer 's plea was rejected that it was the end of anyone using, but that isn’t the case. It is used quite rarely, but it is still in use. In all reality, the insanity plea should always be rejected. The only way it should be allowed is if the criminal is fully innocent. “The insanity

    Read More

  • The Insanity Pleas: How Insane Is The Insanity Plea

    648 Words  | 2 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • The Competency to Stand Trial

    1260 Words  | 3 Pages

    The criminal justice system takes on a pivotal role in pursuing and preventing crimes in society. When a suspect is caught and then faced with charges for a violent crime, they legally have the right to a fair trial. In order for a criminal proceeding to successfully take place, the defendant must be fully aware of their surroundings, have a basic understanding of court procedures, as well as being capable of defending their one case. Competency to stand trial (CST) is essential for maintaining fairness in the courtroom and producing a just verdict. However, if a defendant is unable to understand legal proceedings due to mental illness or impairment, they must be thoroughly assessed and evaluated before declared incompetent to stand trial. Carrying out a case with a defendant who lacks mental capacity causes numerous issues because the individual is incapable of supplying their lawyers with information regarding their crime or any of the witness testimonies at trial. Lack of comprehensible communication between a defendant and attorney forces an ineffective defense in the case. Mental disturbances in the defendant that may cause disorderly conduct in the court room are considered disruptive and weaken the authority of the legal system. Supreme Court cases that have dealt with competency to stand trial issues over the years have made significant rulings, which have stressed the importance of identifying whether or not a defendant is in fact incompetent.

    Read More

  • The Criminalization of the Mentally Ill

    3759 Words  | 8 Pages

    Lamb, H. R. (2004). Mentally ill persons in the criminal justice system: Some perspectives. Psychiatric Quarterly, 108-126.

    Read More

  • The Criminal Justice System And Mental Illness

    1108 Words  | 3 Pages

    Prior to taking this course, I generally believed that people were rightly in prison due to their actions. Now, I have become aware of the discrepancies and flaws within the Criminal Justice system. One of the biggest discrepancies aside from the imprisonment rate between black and white men, is mental illness. Something I wished we covered more in class. The conversation about mental illness is one that we are just recently beginning to have. For quite a while, mental illness was not something people talked about publicly. This conversation has a shorter history in American prisons. Throughout the semester I have read articles regarding the Criminal Justice system and mental illness in the United States. Below I will attempt to describe how the Criminal Justice system fails when they are encountered by people with mental illnesses.

    Read More

  • The Insanity Defense

    1267 Words  | 3 Pages

    Much of my skepticism over the insanity defense is how this act of crime has been shifted from a medical condition to coming under legal governance. The word "insane" is now a legal term. A nuerological illness described by doctors and psychiatrists to a jury may explain a person's reason and behavior. It however seldom excuses it. The most widely known rule in...

    Read More

  • Mentally ill Criminals

    1250 Words  | 3 Pages

    The issue of executing mentally ill criminals has been widely debated among the public. They debate on whether it is right or wrong to execute a person who does not possess the capacity to think correctly. The mental illness is a disease that destroys a person’s memory, emotion, and prevent one or more function of the mind running properly. The disease affects the way a person thinks, feels, behaves and relates to others.When a person is severely mentally ill, his/ her ability to appreciate reality lack so they aspire to do stuff that is meaningless. The sickness is triggered by an amalgamation of genetic, and environmental factors not a personal imperfection. On the death penalty website, Scott Panetti who killed his mother in-law and father-in-law reports that since 1983, over 60 people with mental illness or retardation have been executed in the United States (Panetti). The American Civil Liberties Union says that it is unconstitutional to execute someone who suffered from an earnest mental illness (ACLU).Some people apply the term crazy or mad to describe a person who suffers from astringent psychological disorders because a mad person look different than a mundane human being. The time has come for us to accept the fact that executing mentally ill offenders is not beneficial to society for many reasons. Although some mentally ill criminals have violated the law, we need to sustain a federal law that mentally ill criminals should not be put to death.

    Read More

  • The Insanity Defense

    2529 Words  | 6 Pages

    When someone commits a crime, he or she may use mental illness as a defense. This is called an insanity plea or insanity defense. What the insanity defense does is try to give the alleged perpetrator a fair trial. At least in extreme cases, society agrees with this principle. The problem is where do we draw the line. Under what circumstances is a person considered insane, and when are they not? The trouble with the insanity defense in recent years is the assumption that virtually all criminals have some sort of mental problem. One important point is that the crime itself, no matter how appalling, does not demonstrate insanity. Today, the insanity defense has become a major issue within the legal system. If the defendant is clearly out of touch with reality, the police and district attorney ordinarily agree to bypass the trial and let the defendant enter a mental hospital.

    Read More

  • The Insanity Defense

    1333 Words  | 3 Pages

    ... or by giving them written tests. Some psychiatrists call mental diseases a myth. The insanity defense would require both a mental disease and a relationship between the illness and the criminal behavior, neither of which could be scientifically proven. Of the criminals both acquitted and convicted using the insanity defense, a good number have shown conclusive evidence of recidivism. Many dangerous persons are allowed to return to the streets and many non-dangerous persons are forced into facilities due to an insanity plea adding further confusion and injustice within both the legal and medical systems. The insanity defense is impossible to maintain on the foundation of rules such as the M'Naghten Rule, and the relationship between law and psychiatry must be reinstated on a more scientific level, based on the neurological work now going on in the brain sciences.

    Read More

  • Correlation Between Mental Illness and Violence and Crime

    2289 Words  | 5 Pages

    Crime can be described combination between both behavior and mental factors. This will prove incredibly crucial in the definition of crime in relation to mental illness. Many of those that commit crimes are not convicted due to their illness so it is important to note, for the purpose of this analysis, that all illegal activity is considered crime, regardless of conviction (Monahan and Steadman 1983).

    Read More

  • Schizophrenia And Criminality Essay

    661 Words  | 2 Pages

    The association of mental illnesses with criminal activity is allocated to the observation that a not overwhelming, but noticeable percentage of people in jails or prisons have mental illnesses. Mental disorders that can become very severe if untreated or treated inadequately, like schizophrenia, can be found among individuals in the criminal justice system that have committed crimes ranging from a misdemeanors to felonies. Although individuals with schizophrenia could have committed non-violent crimes, the violent ones, such as disturbing the peace by yelling or appearing threatening, domestic abuse, and murder, could be due to several factors that show people with schizophrenia have a higher risk of aggressive behavior (National Alliance on Mental Illness [NAMI], 2008).

    Read More

  • Comparing and Contrasting the Differences of Insanity, Automatism and Diminished Responsibility

    1543 Words  | 4 Pages

    There are two theories that justify punishment: retributivism according to which punishment ensures that justice is done, and utilitarianism which justifies punishment because it prevents further harm being done. The essence of defences is that those who do not freely choose to commit an offence should not be punished, especially in those cases where the defendant's actions are involuntary. All three of these defences concern mental abnormalities. Diminished responsibility is a partial statutory defence and a partial excuse. Insanity and automatism are excuses and defences of failure of proof. While automatism and diminished responsibility can only be raised by the defendant, insanity can be raised by the defence or the prosecution. It can be raised by the prosecution when the defendant pleads diminished responsibility or automatism. The defendant may also appeal against the insanity verdict. With insanity and diminished responsibility, the burden of proof is on the defendant. With automatism the burden of proof is on the prosecution and they must negate an automatism claim beyond reasonable doubt.

    Read More

  • Automatism, Insanity and Diminished Responsibility

    1568 Words  | 4 Pages

    A defence in criminal law arises when conditions exist to negate specific elements of the crime: the actus reus when actions are involuntary, the mens rea when the defendant is unaware of the significance of their conduct, or both. These defences will mitigate or eliminate liability for a criminal offence. Insanity, automatism and diminished responsibility are examples of such defenses. They each share characteristics but can be distinguished in their scope and application. Insanity, automatism and diminished responsibility all play a significant role in cases where the defendant’s mind is abnormal while committing a crime.

    Read More

More about Description Of Mental Disorders

Open Document