...directly influences society’s perceptions and reactions towards the insane criminal. People base their judgement of the criminal and the insane on their representations in the media, which are usually based on stereotypes. Whether insanity is a prerequisite quality for being a criminal or criminality is a manifestation of insanity, there is a definite link between the two, that has been strengthened by the media’s portrayal of the insane criminal. Michel Foucault discusses people’s tendencies to classify people as “normal” or “abnormal” (Faubion 1994). “Abnormal” refers to anyone who deviates from the norm and as a result, we treat the criminal and the insane in a similar manner: We remove them from society in order to give ourselves peace of mind, yet this treatment is not a new phenomenon. For centuries, society has attempted to marginalise both the criminal and the insane. In Madness and Civilization: a History of Insanity in the Age of Reason (1965) Foucault describes this classification as a means to exclude certain types of people from society, by placing them in prisons or institutions. They are taken out of the social order and locked away, to present a “safer” world for those who consider themselves “normal”. We classify the criminal and the insane as “abnormal” without truly understanding the underlying issues of criminality and insanity. This begs the question of what the criminal and the insane actually have in common? Foucault states that criminals are defined...
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...Eddy English 1213-308 24 Mar 2010 Sane or Insane Albert Fish was so demented that he stuck alcohol soaked cotton balls into his anus after setting them on fire. He was also found with twenty nine needles stuck in his body between his anus and his scrotum. Fish was also found guilty of the killings of fifteen little boys and mutilating one hundred others. He said that God told him to do it. The doctors said that he suffered from a religious psychosis (Rawlins). Some people seem to get away with these kinds of heinous crimes because of insanity and others, who really have mental problems, get locked away in prison and forgotten about. The definition of insanity is “the mental illness of such a severe nature that a person cannot distinguish fantasy from reality, cannot conduct his/her affairs due to psychosis, or is subject to uncontrollable impulsive behavior” (Insanity). In other words, a person may live in a fantasy world and believe that things are going on around them that really are not. Also, a person may not be able to control their urges. For instance, a person may get the urge to flip someone the middle finger that cuts them off in traffic. This would be an uncontrollable impulsive behavior. Many serial killers use this line of defense as a strategy to get put into a mental hospital rather than prison. Mental hospitals give prisoners less rules and more freedoms than do Pierce 2 prisons. Some killers though, are truly insane. There is a fine line, as well as a good...
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...Insanity is Insane Picture this: I just went to a liquor store, stole some liquor, shot the cashier, drove off drinking and driving, hit 20 people killing 7 and injuring 13 but that’s only because I’m insane. In court, they will do a series of test that proves I am insane. I will plead guilty of insanity and go to an institution where a close eye will be put on me. In 2014, a group study discovered that of all court cases, the insanity defense had be used in 1% of cases. In addition, the success rate of those cases is only about 26% (Apecsec). Let’s think about the word insanity, it translate to madness or mentally ill. Another word to check out is crazy, it translated to mean aggressively wild. Now that fine line is what is harder to determine....
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...the pseudocommandos, and in doing so, a select few were found guilty of murder, but the consequences of the massacres committed were eased. In the end, after the school rampages, or SR’s, were committed, the true ethics of the treatment of the shooters must come into question in regards to the insanity plea. How...
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...considered legally insane. The individual must have a severe mental disease or defect, their lawyer must prove that they were at the time of the crime. We need to abolish the insanity plea and make the death penalty the law of the land again. An individual accused of a crime can pled guilty that they committed the crime, or argue that they are not responsible for it because of a mental illness. “Not guilty by reason of insanity.” There’s an important distinction between pleading guilty by reason of insanity and diminished capacity. Diminished capacity is pleading to a lesser crime. Pleading insanity is a full defense to a crime, it’s equivalent to pleading “not guilty.” The insanity defense is a compromise on part of society and the law. Society believes that criminals should be punished for the crimes they committed and society believe that people who are ill should receive treatment for their illness. When we talk about the insanity defense, we go to the M'Naghten rule. The M'Naghten rule is the required test that must be given before the jury can decide whether the individual on trial knew that he or she could not tell right from wrong. This is the first famous legal test for insanity. In 1843, Englishman Daniel M’Naghten shot and killed the secretary of the British Prime Minister. M’Naghten believed that the Prime Minister was conspiring against him. The court ruled M'Naghten not guilty “by reason of insanity,” then he was placed in a mental institution. This case caused a public...
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...Through expert witnesses, psychology has proven itself to be extremely helpful in the court of law, especially when dealing with certain cases. A case in which these two fields come together is when dealing with mental illnesses, where the jury expects to be educated on the mental health of an offender at the time of crime. Mental illness, in the broadest of terms, is made up of disorders that affect your mood, thinking and behavior processes. Thus, it is a mental health condition that can include disorders such as depression, anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder, eating disorder and schizophrenia (Chavers, 2010, p. 20). Controversies between psychology and the law begin to appear with more severe mental disorders that can lead to crimes demanding...
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...Insanity is defined as “The principal legal doctrine permitting consideration of mental abnormality in assessing criminal liability. Those acquitted of criminal charges as Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity are typically required to spend an indeterminate period of treatment in a secure mental health facility until they are no longer dangerous to self or others”.(Greene & Heilbrun). Each state carries its own statutes on how to deal with the insanity defense. In the state of California the follow the M’Naghten rule. The M’Naghten rule was established in 1843 after an Englishman by the name of Daniel M’Naghten murdered the secretary of the British prime minister. M’Naghten suffered from delusions that made him believe that he was being stalked and plotted against. He was charged with murder and plead not guilty by reason of insanity. He got off under his insanity plea, but ended up in a mental institution for the remainder of his life. This infuriated some people so Queen Victoria imposed the M’Naghten rule as a stricter guideline (or test) for the insanity defense. This rule implies that a person that commits a crime did not understand the difference between right and wrong at the time the crime had taken place. It must be proved by the defense that the person on trial has some sort of “disease of the mind” that would cause them to commit the crimes they have. It excuses the behavior that took place in the event that insanity can be proved. Because the M’Naghten rule is still...
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...The Insanity Defense The insanity defense refers to that branch of the concept of insanity which defines the extent to which men accused of crimes may be relieved of criminal responsibility by virtue of mental disease. The terms of such a defense are to be found in the instructions presented by the trial judge to the jury at the close of a case. These instructions can be drawn from any of several rules used in the determination of mental illness. The final determination of mental illness rests solely on the jury who uses information drawn from the testimony of "expert" witnesses, usually professionals in the field of psychology. The net result of such a determination places an individual accordingly, be it placement in a mental facility, incarceration, or outright release. Due to these aforementioned factors, there are several problems raised by the existence of the insanity defense. Problems such as the actual possibility of determining mental illness, justifiable placement of judged "mentally ill" offenders, and the overall usefulness of such a defense. In all, I believe that these problems, as well as others which will be mentioned later, lead us to the conclusion that the insanity defense is useless and should be abolished entirely. Insanity is a legal, not a medical definition. Therefore, mental illness and insanity are not synonymous: only some mental illness constitutes insanity. Insanity, however, includes not only mental illness but also mental deficiencies. Due to...
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...BA 310 Case Study #1 In any business instances whether it be directly dealing with money, or any type of contract or agreement it is imperative to have trust between the two parties. This is to ensure that the process is successful and handled correctly. In the case study Madoff gained an insane amount of investors by promising them they would have a guaranteed return on their investment. Later on, the investors figured out that the money they invested was in fact put towards a fake company resulting in no return on the investment after all. Greed is very apparent in this study as shown all throughout the case. Greed is the obsessive desire to want money far beyond the basic survival and comfort. This definition sums up Madoff and his ill intentions completely. Ponzi schemes are still very prevalent in today’s society. Although the consequences of the scheme are very harsh and scary, the con artist still believe they are able to come out with a better outcome if they follow through with the scheme. Ponzi scheme’s are a form of fraud in which belief in the success of a nonexistent enterprise is fostered by the payment of quick returns to the first investors from money invested by later investors. Charles Ponzi first introduced the Ponzi scheme to the American public. Simplicity] is the trait that seems to make all of this easier and more gullible to believe. There have been several people that attempted to this act of scheming. Martin Frankel...
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...Louis Riel Lana Forsberg 11172571 Native Studies 107 Swapna Padmana November 19, 2014 Louis Riel is one of the most influential citizens in not only Metis history but also in Canadian history. Riel’s story shows society that life is a battle of controversy when trying to gain the rights and freedom that you are deserved. Although Louis has inspired a lot of people, he has also caused a lot of hatred and pain because of his actions. Many people consider him to be a hero but on the other hand others see him to be a killer and a mad man. A person’s actions can affect the way people view them for the rest of their lives and in Riel’s case he is a prime subject to this. Riel led the Metis through a historical rebellion and throughout this rebellion made it sane for scholars and historians to view him as a hero but also a victim in Canadian history. In 1844, Louis Riel was born into the Red River Settlement, which now is considered Manitoba. Louis Riel grew up around the time when the west was opening up and a lot of different ethnicities were migrating into Manitoba. This caused issues for the Metis because the Metis people were offered little education and food sources started going scarce. The Metis were considered to be half-breeds and eventually there was an account of starvation and mass hunger throughout the area. Even though this was all happening during Riels pre-adulenscent years, he was one of the few people that were able to get education and started...
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...people; the people who are sworn to protect these people and treat them with the equal treatment they show to all other people, are some of the main contributors to the corruption of the US Justice System. African Americans face many discriminating obstacles while being incarcerated, some of these discriminating barriers consist of: higher cost of bail, longer sentencing, and unlawful plea bargains, all compared to a Caucasian facing charges for the same crime. Firstly, with my personal opinion I think the amount for bail should be decided by the offense, so every offense has a set bail cost. Then if people get charged multiple times for the same offences just double the cost of bail, people will soon learn from their mistakes. Anyway, studies show, significantly in three counties: Barnstable, Berkshire, and Plymouth, all in Massachusetts, the cost of bail for whites is substantially less than that of African Americans. In Barnstable, the cost of bail nearly quadruples black cost from white. Blacks median bail cost was 20 thousand dollars; whereas, whites cost of bail was a median 5 thousand dollars. In Berkshire however, even though bail is only 5 thousand dollars for blacks it is 5 times higher than that of whites coming in at a median 1 thousand dollars(MassInc Staff). Secondly, according to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), African Americans are incarcerated nearly six times the rate of whites and make up almost 1 million of the 2.3...
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...Andrea Yates was born on July 2nd 1964 in Houston Texas. Yates was being treated for post partum depression and psychosis, but after giving birth to her fifth child she went into major depression. On the day of June 20th 2001, she drowned all five of her children in the bathtub and later found guilty to first degree murder and sentence to life in prison, later court of appeals founder her insane. Yates was being treated for these illnesses that actually ran in her family. After giving birth to her 5th and last child and the death of her father, she went into a major depression and was forced in being admitted into a psych ward. June 20th 2001, from her husband heading out to work and her mother-in-law arriving, Andrea Yates murdered all...
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...Rights of Inmates Kem P. Charles ASA College Research Methods Abstract This project is about Corrections or being employed as a correctional officer. The purpose of this project is to determine whether or not inmates should have rights. When we think of the term “inmates” most of us if not all believe that all their rights should be revoked as a result of them being found guilty. The legal system provides us with the “Innocent until proven guilty” but not in the minds of the outside world. Guilty individuals to the human race is considered to be a castaway with no rights to anything good or positive because they have done wrong and have lost all rights to fairness. On conducting my research for this paper, Inmates as well as you and I have the same rights even more. I found out that more detailed care is given to inmates than they could provide for themselves. Their health and safety comes first, their meals are timely and balanced. Inmates have the right to complain about prison conditions and voice their concerns about the treatment they receive. They also have a right of access to the courts to air these complaints. The main role of incarceration is to serve as a deterrent. The reason being that persons who are caught and penalized for their crimes don’t ever want to return to prison and try to stay away from trouble. Those who have managed to escape punishment will continue to take chances until perhaps they are caught. Another valid reason for punishment...
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...Postpartum Psychosis Motherhood the Sad, the Mad, and the Insane Laurie Hackney Women, Crime, and Criminal Justice Dr. Connolly March 21, 2011 Postpartum Psychosis Motherhood the Sad, the Mad, and the Insane On the heartbreaking morning of June 20, 2001, Andrea Pia Yates was arrested and charged for the filicide of her children. One by one, this seemingly devoted mother of five drowned all of her children in the bathtub of their family home. Singularly, she put her three youngest children to death, taking their bodies from the tub fully clothed and wet, then placed them upon their bed, and covered them up. She proceeding doing the same with her youngest child, but while she was drowning Mary, her oldest son Noah walked in and asked what she was doing before he turned and ran away. She gave chase, caught up with him in the hall, then dragged him back to the bathroom and proceeded to terminate him with Mary dead in tub. Andrea then took Mary and placed her in the arms of the three youngest children leaving Noah behind dead and alone in the bath. Factors Relating to the Incident Being raised a Roman Catholic; Yates converted her religious beliefs to that of her husband’s prior to marriage. In this religion, people are expected to have as many children as nature will allow. Even while Andrea was awaiting trial, it was reported that her husband felt so sure of his wife’s acquittal that he was already speaking about having more children. This notion left the attorneys...
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...Always discuss coincidence (Thabo Meli, Royall) and BRD (prosecution, differs for offence and defence) Chapter 5 – Homicide: Murder and Involuntary Manslaughter 5.1 Patterns of homicide 423 Study by A.Wallace. 1968-81 * -relationship of victim to offender. * -homicide is a crime that is socially, historically and culturally determined. * -homicide comprises a variety of offenders and victims in different social settings. * -Homicide in NSW is largely interpersonal in nature, rather than instrumental or ideological. * -Majority of interpersonal killings involved intimates. * -Homicide patterns reflect cultural norms. * -homicide is spontaneous rather than premeditated crime. * -Homicide offenders exhibit a wide range of moral culpability. 5.3 Murder S18 Crimes Act (1900) NSW S 18. (1) (a) Murder shall be taken to have been committed where the act of the accused, or thing by him omitted to be done, causing the death charged, was done or omitted with reckless indifference to human life, or with intent to kill or inflict grievous bodily harm upon some person, or done in an attempt to commit, or during or immediately after the commission, by the accused, or some accomplice with him, of a crime punishable by penal servitude for life or for 25 years. (b) Every other punishable homicide shall be taken to be manslaughter. S 18 (2)(a) No act or omission which was not malicious, or for which the accused had lawful cause or excuse, shall...
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