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Biological and psychological evaluation of criminal behaviour
Biological and psychological evaluation of criminal behaviour
An essay between mental illness and crime
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Putting the criminally insane in prison could be a bad thing because they are mentally ill and and prison don't have one or more mental disorders present. The mentally ill criminal should be punished for the felony they committed, and they were able to plea for the insanity defence. How does society see them? The criminally insane are not only only criminals, but they also have mental disorder that they do not realize that they have. Being a regular criminal is different from the insane because of their state of minds. However, if a person with psychiatric disability plead guilty because there is a mental disorder present, then they would be evalutated to see if they could stand trial. The mentally ill individual may even tell someone who the devil told them to do it. Sometimes the ill individual may even stay at the crime scene because they had no idea what they were doing was wrong. If the ill or criminal go to court, they have the option to plea insane. However, If the judge finds the criminal not guilty by reason of insanity, or the mentally ill individual has a mentally ill state of mind, they judge will decide if they get out of court and put into a mental facility or if they are mentally stable enough to handle a court session. Depending on how severe the crime is, the individual who committed the crime is to be evaluated and may even be sent to a psychiatric therapist to be evaluated on their state of mind and illness. How society seems criminals and the mentally ill is obvious, they are looked down on, they are often seen as terrible people, in which is mostly true. Some people look at them and just think they are pure evil. A vast majority of the population think that the mentally ill should be punished for what they d...
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...d was then released to get mental help. Andrea Yate's is currently not serving any jail time and is getting mental help.
Works Cited
"Andrea Yates Case: Yates Found Guilty by Reason If Insanity." CNN. CNN, n.d. Web. 11 Jan. 2014. .
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Botelho, Greg. "In Police Shooting of Mentally Ill N.C. Teen, Who Do You Believe?" CNN. CNN, 10 Jan. 2014. Web. 11 Jan. 2014. .
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"The Causes of Insanity." In.gov.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2013. .
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DeSilva, Derrick. "Mental Disorders of the Criminally Insane." Web log post. Insiders Health. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2013. .
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"Dissociative Identity Disorder." Medicine Net. Medicine Net, n.d. Web. 23 Nov. 2013. .
-Bardsley, M., Bell, R., and Lohr, D. 2009. The BTK Story. Retrieved December 9, 2009 from http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/unsolved/btk/index_1.html : This was a reliable source since it collected it’s information from police records, first hand accounts and testimony from the trial. This resource was very helpful because it presented a high-profile case of a person suffering from this disorder.
Mental illness may be something one is born with or may be a consequence of poor choices. According to the article “Prisoners and Mental Illness,” written by Sarah Glazer, many mentally ill people are in prison. Mental illnesses are manageable with care and treatment such as medication and therapy. However, the care and treatment in some prisons are close to non-existent. The illnesses such as psychotic disorders, dissociative disorders, impulse control and addiction disorders, are rarely properly dealt with. While most ingress of people into prison, are already ill, some prison conditions can onset mental illness. The closing of psychiatric hospitals has consequently led prisons to become major institutions for the mentally ill, which implement
Much of my skepticism over the insanity defense is how this act of crime has been shifted from a medical condition to coming under legal governance. The word "insane" is now a legal term. A nuerological illness described by doctors and psychiatrists to a jury may explain a person's reason and behavior. It however seldom excuses it. The most widely known rule in...
The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world and of that over sixty percent of jail inmates reported having a mental health issue and 316,000 of them are severely mentally ill (Raphael & Stoll, 2013). Correctional facilities in the United States have become the primary mental health institutions today (Adams & Ferrandino, 2008). This imprisonment of the mentally ill in the United States has increased the incarceration rate and has left those individuals medically untreated and emotionally unstable while in jail and after being released. Better housing facilities, medical treatment and psychiatric counseling can be helpful in alleviating their illness as well as upon their release. This paper will explore the increasing incarceration rate of the mentally ill in the jails and prisons of the United States, the lack of medical services available to the mentally ill, the roles of the police, the correctional officers and the community and the revolving door phenomenon (Soderstrom, 2007). It will also review some of the existing and present policies that have been ineffective and present new policies that can be effective with the proper resources and training. The main objective of this paper is to illustrate that the criminalization of the mentally ill has become a public health problem and that our policy should focus more on rehabilitation rather than punishment.
NBCNews.com. Jury: Yates insane, not guilty- US news- Crime & courts / NBC News. 26 7 2006. 28 2 2014. .
When someone commits a crime, he or she may use mental illness as a defense. This is called an insanity plea or insanity defense. What the insanity defense does is try to give the alleged perpetrator a fair trial. At least in extreme cases, society agrees with this principle. The problem is where do we draw the line. Under what circumstances is a person considered insane, and when are they not? The trouble with the insanity defense in recent years is the assumption that virtually all criminals have some sort of mental problem. One important point is that the crime itself, no matter how appalling, does not demonstrate insanity. Today, the insanity defense has become a major issue within the legal system. If the defendant is clearly out of touch with reality, the police and district attorney ordinarily agree to bypass the trial and let the defendant enter a mental hospital.
"Mental Illness on Death Row." Death Penalty Focus. Death Penalty Focus, 05 May 2009. Web. 10 Dec 2013. .
...res of the psychopaths and gives the reader various examples of these individuals playing out these characteristics in everyday life. A widely used checklist is provided so the reader can get a wide spanning view of what is accounted for when scoring a psychopath. This form of research is very important within the deceitfulness of this population; it allows the professional to ignore their words and examine their actions. Hare made it clear that it is not uncommon for there to be an emotional and verbal disconnect from their actions. With virtually no emotional functioning psychopaths feel no remorse for the offenses that they commit and it is very important that we work towards using the opportunities we have to study and assist these populations; not only for them but for ourselves.
Miller, Laurence. "The predator's brain: Neuropsychodynamics of serial killers."Serial offenders: Current thought, recent findings, unusual syndromes (2000): 135-166.
They have a special service provided in prison. Ruiz v. Estelle (1980) established components needed to deliver adequate mental health treatment in prison. On jail, they don't have the right to force them to take medications or services. In 2009, Two Inmates committed suicide and three others attempted suicide. One inmate had a psychotic breakdown assaulted a corrections officer. Some jails back then didn't had special cells designed for the mentally ill but when they are brought out of a cell some are separated from other inmates, while others are not. Mentally ill inmates need a special housing, jails have a fewer options for handling inmates from the other inmates population who have disciplinary problems. Mentally ill inmates often stay in the jail longer than they should because of the overcrowding at state hospitals or they don't have who to take care of them. I think we can safely say there is no doubt that jails and prisons have become America's Major mental health facilities. For Example, 60 percent of males and 80 percent of female inmates in state prisons, and 65 percent of female and 60 percent of the male in jail will experience a mental health problem requiring mental health services in jail. U.S courts have clearly said that prisoners have that right to receive medical and mental
The Andrea Yates murder trial was one of the most highly publicized cases of 2001. Perplexing and complicated, it appealed to the public audience for various reasons. A mother methodically, drowns her five children in the family bathtub after her husband leaves for work. Was this an act of a cold calculating killer, or was this the act of a woman who lost touch with reality. Is this a case of medical neglect, and psychological dysfunctions, or is this a battle of ethics and deviant behavior exploiting medical and legal loop holes?
Hall, D. L., Miraglia, R. P., & Li-Wen G., L. (2011). The Increasingly Blurred Line Between "Mad" and "Bad": Treating Personality Disorders in the Prison Setting. Albany Law Review, 74(3), 1277-1300.
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.
The darker side of psychological disorders is often revealed through tense courtrooms and dramatic movies, often depicting individuals with major childhood trauma sowing carnage and destruction in seemingly emotionally detached acts of violence without remorse or logical explanation. When discussing psychological disorders the images that come to mind are often the happy smiling faces of individuals with autism, passing out hugs freely or even of a close neighbor who takes medication to manage depression and everyone seems to have the obsessive-compulsiveness of a family member to some degree. However, there exists others psychological disorders that are just as familiar, yet seemingly more sinister. Such as schizophrenia and dissociative
Halgin, R. P., & Whitbourne, S. K. (2010). Abnormal psychology: clinical perspectives on psychological disorders (6th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.