Mental Disorders And The United States

Throughout the course of history, society has tried to explain and diagnose the abnormal behavior of individuals with mental illnesses. Originally, folklore and other concepts dating back to ancient times, influenced societies to define and label those individuals that expressed abnormal patterns of behavior as mad, insane and mentally ill (Henderson, 2009). Treatment and legal proceedings for such individuals often incorporated cruel and unusual punishments and in some cases even death. Over time, societal views on the available treatments and legal proceedings for the mentally ill have changed drastically. Legal defense for those with mental illnesses, known as the insanity defense became available as far back as King Henry III’s reign over England (Ahia, 2009). The insanity defense is often used interchangeably with: the insanity plea as well as the phrase “not guilty” by reason of insanity. The accepted use of the insanity plea by the defendant, an individual whom is accused of a crime, is determined by the mental health evaluations of the court’s legal standards and or by mental health professionals. The issue of mental illness and the insanity defense becomes controversial when those with mental illnesses commit heinous crimes and use the “not guilty” by reason of insanity defense. The public fears that the individuals are using a questionable and concerning defense to be pardoned for committing violent crimes and that those individuals who are found not guilty and

This paper is going to explain the research that I have done on the insanity defense in general, my own opinion on the use of pleading insanity, a recent case on the successful pleading of insanity to prevent a defendant from being criminally responsible, and the positives and negatives of the insanity defense. I am also going to do my best to explain what should happen to a criminal defendant after they are declared by the courts to be insane, as well citing all of my research.

The treatment of mentally ill offenders in the criminal justice system has been a recent topic of discussion. Not all judges take the same outlook on cases that include someone with an altered mental state. Some are more sympathetic, understanding they are not completely sane, but others see them as just another criminal. These judges feel they should be treated the same as every other person who breaks the law. They want to bring justice to the case, and put the trial to rest by incarcerating the offender. “When mentally ill people carry out planned and even deliberately planned violent or

Have you ever wondered what they did on multiple occasions with psychotic criminals up for sentencing in a court proceeding? In this paper it will clarify that answer, and much more in the final say in mentally ill individuals. The final decision in being mentally ill in a court proceeding is formally known as the Insanity defense plea. The Insanity defense plea is an act of protection for criminals who are not aware of their criminal conduct in sentencing from a judge. In this paper it will begin by explaining the history of the Insanity plea, and how it came about in today’s society of criminals. Next, the paper will educate readers on the process a mentally ill person goes through in order to be protected within this defense.

The insanity defense is a topic that is commonly argued about. It is a topic that is helpful to be informed about. While my research was limited since there are not many cases of the insanity defense , many individuals believe that this defense is only used to allow defendants to get less time in prison and get away with a crime. Although this has been true in some cases, my objective is to bring light into this topic because the insanity defense serves as an appropriate punishment for someone that is mentally ill, the public has a widely misconception of it, and it provides mental help for an “insane” defendant.

The purpose of this essay is to explain why the insanity plea, or the insanity defense as it is also known, is not a legitimate defense for any type of crime. The insanity defense has been around for a number of years but does it make a mockery of the legal system? While many people have used the insanity defense, it loses more times than it wins. This defense is used when someone believes they did not know right from wrong while committing the crime. The problem with this is that it is hard to know someone’s mental state when there is not much evidence to go on. Someone can become mentally ill after a crime or someone may have been mentally ill before a crime. Neither one of these issues always weigh on the actual crime. A large

For a considerable length of time, a standout amongst the most questionable themes in the lawful framework has been the mental illness. When somebody does a wrongdoing, he or she may utilize psychological instability as a defense. This is called Insanity defense. By attempting to utilize insanity defense, the claimed wrongdoer tries to get a reasonable trial. Society concurs with this rule. The issue is the place do we take a stand. Under what conditions is a man thought about crazy, and when they are not crazy. As they use mental illness as shields respondents from accepting full charges for their wrongdoing, as indicated by their psychological state at the time of their activities. However, because of this, it’s imperfect defense in which creates a loophole in our criminal justice system and that it must be

Schizophrenia is broken down into 4 subtypes: Paranoid-type, Disorganized-type, Undifferentiated-type, and Residual-type (Goldberg, 2013). Paranoid-type Schizophrenia is the most well known type, and is often seen as the stereotypical view of Schizophrenia.

There are five subtypes of schizophrenia. They are paranoid, disorganized, catatonic, undifferentiated, and residual. Some features of the paranoid subtype are auditory hallucinations and delusional

Schizophrenia does not come in one form. In reality it has various different types, each with their own set of unique characteristics. The five most commonly diagnosed types of Schizophrenia are Paranoid Schizophrenia, Disorganized Schizophrenia, Catatonic Schizophrenia, Residual Schizophrenia, and Schizoaffective Schizophrenia. Each of these types of Schizoaffective Schizophrenia have different traits. Paranoid Schizophrenia is characterised by the individual feeling suspicious, persecuted, or grandiose. There are sometimes a combination of the three emotions. Disorganized Schizophrenia is characterized by the

There are several different types of schizophrenia including, Paranoid (the most common form), Catatonic, Disorganized, Residual and Undifferentiated. Each of these falls under the category of schizophrenia but are actually their own subversion of the disorder, each one showing their own symptoms and requiring different treatments.

Schizophrenia has four main different types: paranoid subtype, disorganized subtype, catatonic subtype, and undifferentiated subtype. Paranoid subtype is the most common type schizophrenia. It consists of auditory hallucinations and/or prominent delusions about prosecution or conspiracy. Patients with paranoid subtype may live normal with successful management and treatment. Disorganized subtype consists of disorganized thought process. Patients with this subtype may have a difficult time with maintaining daily activities and emotional processes. Also, their communication abilities may be impaired (Bengston, 2009). Catatonic subtype is marked by incoherence, grossly disorganized behavior, bizarre thinking, and flat or grossly inappropriate emotions. Undifferentiated subtype lacks the specific features of paranoid subtype, disorganized subtype, and catatonic subtype (Dennis Coon, John O. Mitterer, 2014).

There are a few types of schizophrenia disorders.For example Paranoid, disorganized, and schizoaffective. (Bengston, 2015.)

Mentally disordered offenders have a misconception and a stigma attached to them. A mentally disordered offender is said to be mentally ill, and with the word illness inside the term a common assumed realization is that they are sick and need to be cured with medical attention (Bartol & Bartol, 2011). Mental illness is defined as “a disease of the mind that is judged by ex-perts to interfere substantially with a persons ability to cope with life on a daily basis (Bartol & Bartol, 2011).” However, all ranges of a mentally disordered person is still accountable for their decisions because they are still able to make such decisions (Bartol & Bartol, 2011). For exam-ple, Bartol and Bartol (2011) give a scenario where a woman tried to plea insanity for drowning her children because she was saving them from damnation. Ultimately she was committed and was found not guilty because of faulty testimony from the forensic psychologist

The legal systems worldwide have created the option of an insanity defense for those who have a mental disease or disorder. On the other hand, the community seems to believe that the insanity defense is being overused by criminals as an escape of imprisonment. Through this literature review I will try to prove whether these common beliefs are true and how easily can the criminals use such a defense. First I will show what kind of misperceptions the public holds by analyzing Borum and Fulero (1999) and Eric Silver et al. (1994). Then I will explain the factors that have been found to influence the attitudes towards insanity defense and the evaluation of such factors. Moreover I will analyze the evaluations of insanity defendants by experts