Being Recognized As A Mental Illness

Mental Illness has been prevalent all throughout our history from Isaac Newton to Abraham Lincoln to Sylvia Plath and so on. These illnesses can be as minor as a slight bipolar disorder or as severe as schizophrenia. In recent years, mental illnesses are becoming more prevalent in our criminal justice systems than anywhere else. Mental illness is becoming an association with crime and based on the information that has been found, this paper will attempt to further define the problem of mental illness within our criminal justice system and offer alternatives or insights as to how to possibly help with this problem.

How must it be to live in a criminal mind? How must it be to completely loose the sense of normality? I heartily believe that Forensic Psychology holds the key which opens an entire world of psychopathologies, mental deformities, twisted thoughts and repressed needs of bestiality. Besides letting you sink into the most dangerous minds, it gives you the armament to combat everything hiding in there- knowledge.

It is no secret that forensic psychology is an example of an area where psychologists apply their knowledge of psychological approaches, methods and treatments to a specific problem. However, before assessing the implications, it is crucial to establish the research methods used in criminal

As discussed and studied there are many who now have a hard time believing there psych disorders exists. Understandably so, because we find that it can become repetitive once a criminal has scene that there may be a way out of their consequence. Mr. Kenneth Bianchi is known as the Hillside Strangler and also a man who brought more skepticism to psych defenses in crime. This is a man who was caught and convicted for 15 rapes and murders. In his younger years you could say he has slightly a tragic story. His biological mother was a drunk but “was adopted at birth and had a love-hate relationship with women even as a young child.” (Bio, 2017)

Despite the perception that anyone could potentially fabricate a story and argue for a not criminally responsible verdict, the defence of NCRMD is a difficult one to prove. Very few individuals are found not criminally responsible on account of a mental disorder. In the cases where a trier of fact or jury has successfully accepted the defence, counsel for the defendant alongside expert witnesses, have been able to not only prove a mental disorder at the time of the offence but also have demonstrated that the accused was rendered incapable of knowing that their actions were

In order to effectively work in this area, Forensic psychologists must know the court’s expectations.They must be credible, competent, and concise being able to explain to the court how they arrived at their

But in some cases, rare cases, mental illness and malingering may co-exist and be concluded to have psychopathology. In the end, malingering is very hard to keep constant and to keep believable even for a person who is used to doing it - though it can be done and there are some consequences. Consequences include either: societal consequences such as an increased insurance premium and a diversion of funds from the deserving to the undeserving (Bordini, 2002). The second is when charges can be dismissed and will achieve a secondary gain by avoiding prison for treatment-based rehabilitation (Frederick, Crosby, & Wynkoop, 2000).

Overall, the three articles discussed in this annotated bibliography provide direction for social workers and researchers who are looking to employ a holistic and client-centered approach to working with forensic populations. Forensic populations are often affected by multiple biopsychosocial systems such as: mental illness, substance use disorders, deviant sexual thoughts and behaviors, and criminal behavior. Although the biopsychosocial systems which affect forensic populations are often intersecting and inter-related, it can become necessary to individuate and control for these systems within research in order to better ascertain the efficacy of a desired treatment model. Given that I have interest in working with forensic populations

As a mental health advocate, for someone that is mentally ill, that has been caught in a criminal activity that was committed at the time the offense it has to be proven that the person who had committed the crime has been declared mentally ill at the time the crime was committed.

In fact, the Diagnostic Statistical Manual (DSM-V), the central diagnostic tool utilized by psychologists, does not recognize psychopathy as a legitimate mental illness. Rather than receiving a formal diagnosis of psychopathy, an individual exhibiting psychopathic tendencies would instead receive a diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder (APD). Since the DSM-V is not an option for assessing psychopathy, clinicians must alternatively rely on the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R). During sentencing, the PCL-R can be introduced as an aggravating factor in arguing for more severe punishment because the presence of psychopathy is strongly correlated with high recidivism rates, yet the belief that psychopaths are inherently more dangerous is empirically unfounded. Based on the research by John Edens and his colleagues at the Southern Methodist University, they concluded the use of the PCL-R is more prejudicial than probative in capital punishment cases. In their study, sixty percent of jurors supported a death sentence when expert testimony using the PCL-R described the defendant as psychopathic as opposed to only thirty-eight percent when the defendant was described as psychotic or thirty percent when not mentally disordered. The problem with using the PCL-R in

There are many people with mental disorders in U.S.A and many of those people end up in jail. Some people may think this is good, worse people in jail right, wrong. So many mentally ill people are prosecuted and sometimes are not even given the option to go to somewhere that is more qualified to hold them. The words mentally ill to describe a person often gets lost in context when people talk about this subject. The definition of a mentally ill person is “a person who thinks, acts, and behaves differently”. There are reasons why this is bad and they are it is bad to keep the mentally ill in prison, how much this issue effects, and how harsh it is for the mentally ill in prisons. This issue needs to be stopped.

The article’s aim was to identify possible management and identification strategies for Malingering by Proxy using 16 case-reports. Articles from computer databases were reviewed by two evaluators. By comparison of typical characteristics and motives, methods of identification and management were obtained. Generally physical examinations, history reports, neurophysiological testing and collateral information including videotapes were used for identification. These should be thorough as false accusations can threaten the professional-patient relationship. For management, long-term follows ups involving the discontinuation of unnecessary medications, safety assessments of the proxy and access to psychological care and child protective services,

Münchausen syndrome is a psychiatric disorder that is distinguished by the patient causing or faking physical or psychological ailments for the sole purpose of being admitted to the hospital. A psychiatric consult nurse sees about one or two Münchausen cases a month (Interview with John Hauber, RN). Out of the entire United States population, only half to two percent of people have the disorder (medicinenet.com), but the number is probably higher than that because the statistic shown only represents the number of people diagnosed, and not everybody that has Münchausen is properly identified as having the disorder. (Interview with John Hauber, RN). The numbers are higher in certain subpopulations, such as people who have been diagnosed as

Reliability and validity are crucial factors in forensic psychology research, reliability is a critical factor in ensuring that evidence presented is useful and true producing fair results while the validity of scientific procedures and techniques is important in presenting proven, impartial, and clear science. Understanding the concept of reliability pertains to results or conclusions that the examiner arrives at through their study. The concept of validity requires understanding and appreciating the limitations of forensic techniques and the obstacles involved with obtaining valid results (Stangor, 2013). For this paper, the study selected is based on the relationship of sexual sadism and psychopathy to each other as well as non-sexual violence

The psychologist contributes to investigations criminal behavior by profiling and similar techniques. The criminal psychologist can also assist with pretrial methods. This subsection is highly important because it includes the evaluation and treatment of suspects, victims, or witnesses of a crime. The primary task of the forensic psychologist profiling. Psychological profiling involves “investigating an offender's behavior, motives and background in an attempt to further guide an investigation…,” (APA). There are several different areas of profiling that the professionals do in the field. In criminal profiling the psychologist analyzes the emotional, mental disposition of a suspect. While remaining as a slightly controversial technique, profiling has become an increasingly prominent part of criminal investigation. When used properly it has the capacity of being one of law enforcement’s most powerful tools.