The NGRI Document Analysis

Many terms and concepts are commonly associated with mental illness. the topic of mental illness has many overlapping and subset definitions. Mental illness, a term that encompasses a wide range of mental disorders, contains subcategories of mental disorders distinguishable by effects on a person's behavior, thinking, and mood. Disorders are the most commonly referred to an aspect of mental illness; types of disorders are schizophrenia, anxiety, and depression. Syndromes, even more, specific than disorders, pertain to particular systems within subcategories of disorders and are identifiable by distinct symptoms, mental or physical markers expressed by a disease; examples of syndromes are an obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and post-traumatic stress disorder

Two other types of tests were created regarding insanity in 1984--the Federal Insanity Defense Reform Act and Rogers Criminal Responsibility Assessment Scales. The Federal Insanity Defense Reform Act placed the burden of proof on the defendant, and not the prosecution (Morse, 2008). The Rogers Criminal Responsibility Assessment Scales were also developed in 1984 to evaluate criminal responsibility with regard to sanity. It uses the concepts of cognitive and volitional components and is structured to

There are some differences between a normal criminal and a criminal that suffers from a mental illness in the criminal justice system. For example one of the many fundamentals to our criminal justice system is the principle that no one can be tried or adjudged to punishment while mentally incompetent. Trials for mentally unstable people have been modified and are run by different guidelines. Unlike a regular convict, most mentally unstable convicts are unable to comprehend or are unable to complete a trial. Once a convict with a mental illness is convicted or awaiting trail their every medical need must be accommodated within the faculty and it's staff. Without the proper medical care a person with mental illness can become

Fazel, S., Khosla, V., Doll, H., Geddes, J. (2008). The prevalence of mental disorders among the

The ‘loss of control’ tests were formulated as a response to the criticism of the ‘irresistible impulse’ test, whose title was even characterized as misleading by Abraham Goldstein. This new tests have a wider scope, since they encompass situations were a person has lost the power to make choices irrespective of the source that led to this loss. The emerged ‘Parson’s rule’ stresses the need for a causal link between the condition suffered by the defendant and the criminal offence committed, an element that was, also, present in the ‘M’Naghten rule’. Moreover, the test’s unfortunate criterion that the mental disease must have ‘solely’ caused the subject’s act, has been interpreted as meaning ‘primarily’ to ensure the intended scope of the

One in five American adults have experienced a mental health issue, and one in twenty-five Americans have lived with a serious mental illness, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or major depression. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services also states studies show that individuals with mental health problems get better and may even recover completely, where they can continue living life healthily, with the help of treatments, services, and community systems. I, myself am one of the twenty-five.

AO1 A: Candidates present a comprehensive description of three types of mental-health illnesses and their possible causes, and a comprehensive explanation of how these relate to mental-health needs (10)

The brain can be affected by damage and cause behavior to be expressed differently in every person. Events such as a car crash or childhood abuse can affect brain development and function. Damage to certain areas of the brain can have a variety of effects. The hippocampus controls emotions and is associated with memory, and the frontal lobe is a brain cortex that controls motor functions, problem solving, memory, language, judgments, social and sexual behavior and impulse. When the frontal lobe or hippocampus is affected, a person’s emotion can be out of their control. In criminal cases, brain damage can affect the sentencing of a violent criminal, but to what extent should these abnormalities play a role in their conviction? Much research has been conducted in order to determine the effect that brain abnormalities should have on the conviction of violent criminals. A psychiatrist at New York University, Dr. Lewis, has conducted a study on death-row inmates, how their brains work and what affect the damage had on their conviction. By doing so Dr. Lewis paved the way for other researchers, such as Kent Kiehl and Jonathan H. Pincus to study the brains of violent criminals looking for a answer as to whether or not these criminals should be incarcerated. Over time research has been conducted focusing on mental illnesses and brain damage as the cause of violent acts instead of it being just premeditated murder. Many believe brain damage or mental illness should have no affect on

“A mental disorder (mental illness) is a psychological pattern that is generally associated with a defect or disease of the individual’s mind. It causes a disability that may affect an individual’s behavior patterns in ways that are not part of one’s normal development or culture. Mental disorders are common in the United States. Within any given year, nearly 25 percent of adults and slightly over 20 percent of children are diagnosable for one or more mental disorders. While mental disorder appears to be widespread among the population, the main burden (or threat) emanates from about 6 percent of those who suffer from a debilitating mental illness.” (National Institute of Mental Health, 2011)

As someone who feels that no one is above the law, I have some reservations about completely changing sentencing guidelines so that two people who inflict the same harm receive drastically different punishments merely based on the states of their brains. Furthermore, because an increasing number of people are being diagnosed with various mild mental illnesses (depression, bipolar disorder, etc.), this may end conventional guidelines for sentencing. Because of the availability of psychologists for examinations and the potential for human error, I’m concerned about the potential for unequal judgment and sentencing. That being said, I do believe that this modification of the legal system will be most fair to criminal that have been driven towards crime by their difficult-to-control psychology, and can actually be implemented quite easily. One of the primary determining factors of a criminal’s culpability and appropriate sentence is their mens rea, or guilty mind, a spectrum of criminal liability ranging from accidental to premeditated. At the very least, the biology of a criminal’s brain could be introduced in court to mitigate the mens rea and therefore assign a more lenient and appropriate sentence. This gradual introduction could serve as an experimental gateway for the criminal justice system to begin implementing neuroscience as a foundation for sentencing and

Mental illness in America has become an increasingly popular topic of discussion. Rather than being placed in hospitals for treatment, mentally ill individuals are being placed into correctional facilities for their actions. Persons with serious mental illness (SMI) such as bi-polar disorder, severe depression, schizophrenia and etc. have trouble within society. Many lack income and stable living arrangements to be able to succeed in the community. Side effects of their illness can enable them to become a part of the criminal justice system.

In this article, Edens and Cox suggest that the prosecution in capital murder trials produce evidence regarding antisocial personality disorder, sociopathy, and psychopathy. ASPD, sociopathy, and psychopathy all have a long history in the criminal justice system. Mental health experts are called in to evaluate the suspect during sentencing, to determine future violent behaviors, and if there is any potential for rehabilitation. In their research, they found little systematic research on how much of an impact ASPD, sociopathy, and psychopathy have on a case outcome. They decided to carry out a survey at a national conference to measure how frequently this evidence was produced. They found that ASPD evidence was used more than sociopathy and

“A person was not criminally responsible if the unlawful act was a product of mental disease or defect. A jury was required to answer two questions: (1) did the defendant have a mental disease or defect? and (2) if so, was the disease or defect the reason for the unlawful act? Both of the answers had to be "yes" to return a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity. The test was a recognition of that mental illness was a disease that could be treated and possibly cured.” Retrieved on 5/25/2010 from http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/hinckley/EVOL.HTM

Every profession embraces change. Whether it is small, like a simple word addition to the important Patient Information document, or large, like a staff shift, the medical field is constantly changing. To fully understand the scope of what it means to change, I have been challenged to ask “Why?” The answers have helped me grow at Eastside Medical Center.

Mental illness is a disorder that is considered to be a type of interruption in a person’s emotions, thoughts, or behavior. Mental illness signifies to a wide variety of disorders which can range from mild distress to impairing a person’s ability to function in daily life. Signs and symptoms of mental illness can vary, depending on the particular disorder, circumstances and other factors. Whether a behavior is considered normal or abnormal varies on the person’s situation surrounding their behavior. Throughout history there’ve been three overall beliefs for the causes of mental illness. These three theories are known as supernatural, somatogenic, and psychogenic. Each one of these stands for how one is viewed when seen as having a mental illness.