Trial of Murder or claims of Insanity
What does the term "insanity" mean? A mental illnesses which are so severe and debilitating that prevents a person from functioning in a lawful socially acceptable manner. (google.com) A little history about psychiatric hospitals and how things were handled in the past. “The nation's first two psychiatric hospitals opened in the late-1700s. Eastern State Hospital in Williamsburg, Va. opened Oct. 12, 1773. By 1880, there were 75 public psychiatric hospitals in the United States. In 1955 state mental institutions in the U.S. housed nearly 560,000 patients. By 1977, mental institutions reduced the size of their collective population to about 160,000." (A History of Mental Institutions in the United States) “The number of U.S. Registered Hospitals 920,829.” (Health Forum) Psychiatric hospitals/facilities receive billions of dollars to run these facilities. (Gary Null, PhD)
There are symptoms of insanity that could be observed such as; aggression, restless, sadness, in different, irritable, or recklessness. But there are some symptoms that are not easily observed such as; emotional liability and changed thought patterns. There were different forms of treatments used to treat insanity victims; 1. INSULIN-COMA THERAPY began in 1927. 2. TREPANATION 20th century 3. ROTATIONAL THERAPY 4. MESMERISM (1734-1815) 5. LOBOTOMY 6. Electroconvulsive therapy 7.restraint 8. Strong drugs 9. Shock water treatment 10. Bleeding 11. Blistering salves. Such treatments often left patients severely damaged and not being able to function in society. New psychiatric drugs were developed in the 1950s, there was a new-found belief that people in mental institutions could be rehabilitated. Our current day treatments are r...
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2. By Dan Greenberg, Psychiatric-Treatments, September 17, 2012 http://mentalfloss.com/article/31489/10-mind-boggling-psychiatric-treatments
3. By Douglas Linder, The Trial of John Hinckley, 2002
http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/hinckley/hinckleytrial.html
4. By Gary Null, The Hidden Side of Psychiatry by Gary Null, 1983-2002
http://www.tldp.com/issue/162/162psych.htm
5. https://www.google.com/search?q=what+does+insanity+mean&oq=what+does+insanity+mean&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l5.13854j0j8&sourceid=chrome&espv=210&es_sm=93&ie=UTF-8
6. 2014 by Health Forum LLC, an affiliate of the American Hospital Association, 2006-2014
http://www.aha.org/research/rc/stat-studies/fast-facts.shtml
7. Professor Lore Rutz-Burri, J.D. Southern Oregon University Defenses to Criminal Liability: Excuse, Powerpoint slide from chapter 6.
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental hospitals and mental asylums, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of serious psychiatric diseases, such as clinical depression, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder. Psychiatric hospitals vary widely in their size and grading. Some hospitals may specialize only in short-term or outpatient therapy for low-risk patients. Others may specialize in the temporary or permanent care of residents who, as a result of a psychological disorder, require routine assistance, treatment, or a specialized and controlled environment. Patients are often admitted on a voluntary basis, but people whom psychiatrists believe may pose a significant danger to themselves or others may be subject to involuntary commitment.
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.
A mentally insane person, according to psychologytoday.com, is defined as “a person cannot distinguish fantasy from reality… or is subject to uncontrollable impulsive
Madness: A History, a film by the Films Media Group, is the final installment of a five part series, Kill or Cure: A History of Medical Treatment. It presents a history of the medical science community and it’s relationship with those who suffer from mental illness. The program uses original manuscripts, photos, testimonials, and video footage from medical archives, detailing the historical progression of doctors and scientists’ understanding and treatment of mental illness. The film compares and contrasts the techniques utilized today, with the methods of the past. The film offers an often grim and disturbing recounting of the road we’ve taken from madness to illness.
Through the use of insanity as a metaphor, William Shakespeare, Edgar Allen Poe, William Blake, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman, introduced us to characters and stories that illustrate the path to insanity from the creation of a weakened psychological state that renders the victim susceptible to bouts of madness, the internalization of stimuli that has permeated the human psyche resulting in the chasm between rational and irrational thought, and the consequences of the effects of the psychological stress of external stimuli demonstrated through the actions of their characters.
... of these wards that the term “insane asylum” has negative connotations. Mentally ill people did not get the proper treatment and care they needed, and to this day have not received the proper justice that they deserve.
The early history of mental illness is bleak. The belief that anyone with a mental illness was possessed by a demon or the family was being given a spiritual was the reason behind the horrific treatment of those with mental illness. These individuals were placed into institutions that were unhygienic and typically were kept in dark, cave like rooms away from people in the outside world. The institutions were not only dark and gross; they also used inhumane forms of treatment on their patients. Kimberly Leupo, discusses some of the practices that were used, these included may types of electro shocks, submitting patients to ice bath, as well as many other horrific events (Leupo). Lobotomies, which are surgical procedures that cut and scrape different connections in the brain, were very common practice. They were thought to help cure mental illness, but often ended up with more damage than good.
Up to the 1600s, people with psychotic disorders were sent off in "ships of fools", locked in cages, "flogged into reason", or killed. The care for the insane at this time was the responsibility of nuns and monks (Noll, xviii).
To begin, it is important there be an established definition of insanity. Though the original work is set in the turn of the 17th century, and Branagh's in the late 19th, it is important that insanity be described based on current definitions. Antiquated understandings of the matter will provide very little as far as frames of argument. Thus, for this task, the paper will employ law.com's vast legal dictionary for a current definition of insanity. The dictionary tasks itself to such extent. It defines insanity as “mental illness of such a sever...
...eople that went to jail because of the confusion with the insanity defense and the law has become unfavorable towards the insanity defense. As the New York Times says,” Congress barred federal courts from finding defendants legally insane “merely” because they were too mentally ill to have avoided committing the crime.” This means that mentally unstable people are going to jail untreated. The insanity defense has come to questioning our morals. When someone is mentally unstable, do they deserve to be endure the sometimes harsh punishments of our law or should they be treated for their illness in a psychiatric hospital?
The knowledge of mental illness was very small. Doctors did not understand how to diagnosis or treat mental disorders. They did not understand how the brain functioned and what to expect from people in certain situations. Many symptoms of physical illness today were considered mental illness in the eighteenth century. The constant shaking due to Parkinson’s disease was misinterpreted as a mental condition and treated as such4. These patients were placed into...
Scheb, J. M., & Scheb, J. M. (2011). Criminal law and procedure. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth
History shows that signs of mental illness and abnormal behavior have been documented as far back as the early Greeks however, it was not viewed the same as it is today. The mentally ill were previously referred to as mad, insane, lunatics, or maniacs. W.B. Maher and B.A. Maher (1985) note how many of the terms use had roots in old English words that meant emotionally deranged, hurt, unhealthy, or diseased. Although early explanations were not accurate, the characteristics of the mentally ill have remained the same and these characteristics are used to diagnose disorders to date. Cultural norms have always been used to assess and define abnormal behavior. Currently, we have a decent understanding of the correlates and influences of mental illness. Although we do not have complete knowledge, psychopathologists have better resources, technology, and overall research skills than those in ancient times.
John Hinckley’s trial ended in 1982 with the verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity. About a year before, Hinckley shot Ronald Reagan because he was infatuated with the famous actress Jodie Foster. He thought shooting Reagan would impress her and lead her to fall in love with him. After the verdict was announced, the public responded with dismay because they felt as though Hinckley should pay for what he had done. Following the uproar, the United States revised and limited the insanity plea with the hopes that fewer people would use it or actually receive the verdict (Hans). While on trial for any type of crime, the defendant always has the opportunity to plea not guilty by reason of insanity. However, after entering that plea, he or she has to go through extensive testing to determine whether or not insanity is truly present. Throughout this country, varying views concerning the insanity plea exist. Some believe the insanity plea should be restored to what it had been previously while some believe it works just fine now, and others think it should be abolished all together.
Legal Information Institute. (2010, August 9). Retrieved February 17, 2012, from Cornell University Law School: http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/criminal_law