The Insanity Defense: Asking and
نویسنده
چکیده
The authors address the main questions in the insanity defense debate: Should it be abolished? Should psychiatrists participate as expert witnesses? Is the profession damaged by such testimony? Is there a logical leap between providing psychiatric findings and providing an opinion to the ultimate question? Because the free will/determinism model underlying the current insanity defense positions can be used to argue either side of the debate, it does not supply any rational answers. The authors reframe the discussion, using a systems approach, and suggest answers to these questions that are in line with the clinical realities and on a firmer philosophic ground.
منابع مشابه
The military insanity defense.
This article describes the military insanity defense. The success of the litigated insanity defense is explored through the number of insanity acquittals over a 28-month period. A questionnaire distributed to all United States Army psychiatrists provided information on the number of forensic evaluations performed, the number of not criminally responsible (NCR) opinions made, and the disposition...
متن کاملThe insanity defense in Illinois -- a psychiatric perspective.
The insanity defense has come under increasingly strong attack by both lawyers! and psychiatrists,2 at least in part, because of its lack of clarity in relating mental illness to criminal responsibility. Recent scholarly publications3.4 have exhaustively reviewed the pertinent medical-legal, social, and philosophical issues surrounding the contemporary debate regarding retention or abolition of...
متن کاملIn Defense of Cultural “Insanity”: Using Insanity as a Proxy for Culture in Criminal Cases
Courts in the United States do not recognize a formal “cultural defense” for criminal acts committed by defendants belonging to other cultures. This means that courts ostensibly do not take foreign cultural practices, customs, or beliefs into account in evaluating the guilt of individuals who break U.S. laws. Nonetheless, courts have repeatedly permitted cultural evidence to be introduced as an...
متن کاملThe volume and characteristics of insanity defense pleas: an eight-state study.
The authors document the very complex process involved in identifying insanity defense pleas in eight states. Each state and each study county in each state required an individual approach. Most often, county court dockets were hand searched to identify those pleading insanity, although numerous other methodologies were used. The frequency and rate of insanity pleas and acquittals are presented...
متن کاملEmpirical research on the insanity defense and attempted reforms: evidence toward informed policy.
This paper addresses some common questions about the insanity defense and issues raised by commonly proposed "reforms." The first section begins with a brief description of the insanity defense and the reasons for its existence in the law. It then examines some of the popular myths and public misperceptions surrounding the insanity defense. The next three sections discuss proposed "reforms" and...
متن کامل