The Insanity Defense Term paper

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INTRODUCTION

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 this, there are problems in exactly how to apply

a medical theory to a legal matter (Herman, 1983;128). The legal

concepts of mental illness and insanity raise questions in a conflict

between what are termed legalistic criminology and scientific

criminology: mens rea, punishment v. treatment, responsibility, and

prisons v. hospitals. This debate seesaws to and fro amidst a grey

area between law and science. The major difficulty with a theory such

as mental illness is that it is just that, a theory. To scientists

theories are a way of life, but applied to the concept of law theories

become somewhat dangerous. By applying a loose theory such as mental

illness to law we are in essence throwing the proverbial "monkey

wrench" into the wheels of justice.

TESTING FOR INSANITY

At the center of the legal use of insanity lies the mens rea.

Every crime involves a physical act, or actus reus, and a mental act,

or mens rea, the non-physical cause of behavior. The mens rea is the

mental element required for a crime, and if absent excuses the

defendant from criminal responsibility and punishment (Jeffery,

1985;49). The difficulty here lies in analyzing the mens rea. In order

to do this lawyers apply one of several rules used by psychologists.

These rules range from the Irresistible Impulse Test to the M'Naghten

Rule. Each of these rules approach mental illness/capacity in a

different way and in my opinion each falls short of actual proof. I

will discuss each in detail. The M'Naghten Rule The M'Naghten Rule,

also known as the right-wrong test, arose in 1843 during the trial of

Daniel M'Naghten who argued that he was not criminally responsible for

his actions because he suffered from delusions at the time of the

killing. The M'Naghten Rule reads: A defendant may be excused from

criminal responsibility if at the time of the commission of the act

the party accused was laboring under such a defect of reason, from a

disease of the mind, as not to know the nature and the quality of the

act he was doing, or if he did know it, that he did not know that he

was doing what was wrong. Thus, according to the rule, a person is

basically insane if he or she is unable to distinguish between right

and wrong as a result of some mental disability. Criticism of the

M'Naghten Rule has come from both legal and medical professions. Many

criticize that the test is unsound in its view of human psychology.

Psychiatry, it is argued, views the human personality as an integrated

entity, not divisible into separate compartments of reason, emotion,

or volition (Herman, 1983;138). Additionally, the test is criticized

for defining responsibility solely in terms of cognition. While

cognitive symptoms may reveal disorder, they alone are not sufficient

to give an adequate picture of such a disorder or determine

responsibility. Also, it has been shown that individuals deemed insane

by psychologists have possessed the ability to differentiate right

from wrong. I believe that the major weakness of this test, however,

lies in the fact that courts are unable to make clear determinations

of terms such as disease of the mind, know, and the nature and quality

of the act. The Irresistible Impulse Test This rule excludes from

criminal responsibility a person whose mental disease makes it

impossible to control personal conduct. Unlike the M'Naghten Rule, the

criminal may be able to distinguish between right and wrong, but may

be unable to exercise self-control because of a disabling mental

condition. Normally this test is combined with the M'Naghten Rule.

Many of the criticisms of the Irresistible Impulse Test center around

the claim that the view of volition is so extremely narrow that it can

be misleading. Just as the M'Naghten Rule focused on cognition rather

than the function of the person in an integrated fashion, the

Irresistible Impulse Test abstracts the element of volition in a way

that fails to assess a person's function in terms of an integrated

personality. Additionally, it has been asserted that the concept at

best has medical significance in only minor crimes resulting from

obsession-compulsion, and that seldom, if ever, can it be shown that

this disorder results in the commission of a major crime (Seigel

1993;144). Such a claim is subject to the objection that it cannot be

conclusively proven. Interestingly, it has been shown by many

psychiatric authorities that no homicidal or suicidal crime ever

results from obsession-compulsion neurosis. Another criticism of this

test is the difficulty, if not the impossibility, of proving the

irresistibility of the impulse, which the definition of the test

requires. The jury, as I said earlier, has the final decision, and is

faced with deciding when the impulse was irresistible and when it was

merely unresisted, a task that psychiatrists suggest is impossible to

perform. We are also able to argue that the test is one of volition.

It is too narrow in that it fails to recognize mental illness

characterized by brooding and reflection (Herman 1983;140). The test

is misleading in its suggestion that where a crime is committed as a

result of emotional disorder due to insanity, it must be sudden and

impulsive. The Durham Rule The Durham Rule, also known as the Products

Test, is based on the contention that insanity represents many

personality factors, all of which may not be present in every case. It

was brought about by Judge David Bazelon in the case of Durham v. U.S.

who rejected the M'Naghten Rule and stated that the accused is not

criminally responsible if the unlawful act was the product of mental

disease or defect. The primary problem with this rule of course lies

in its meaning. Again it is impossible for us to define mental disease

or defect, and product does not give the jury a reliable standard by

which to base a decision. It is unnecessary to offer further

criticism, for my purpose I believe this attempt fails at it's onset.

The Substantial Capacity Test Another test is termed the Substantial

Capacity Test which focuses on the reason and will of the accused. It

states that at the time of the crime, as a result of some mental

disease or defect, the accused lacked the substantial capacity to (a)

appreciate the wrongfulness of their conduct or (b) conform their

conduct to the requirements of the law. This test is disputable in the

fact that it is not only impossible to prove capacity of reason or

will, but to even test such abstracts seems absurd. Additionally, the

term "substantial capacity" lies question in that it is an abstract

impossible to define.

INSANITY: HOW IT IS ESTABLISHED

The meaning of insanity is the legal definition as put forth

in a rule such as the M'naghten Rule or whatever school of thought is

in use on any given day. The legal test is applied in an adversary

system which pitches lawyer against psychiatrist and psychiatrist

against psychiatrist. Because of this, the psychiatrist is often

perceived not as a scientist but a partisan for the side which is

paying for his testimony (Jeffery, 1985;56). The major problem in this

case being that the use of a neutral expert is impossible to

implement. In the end the determination of insanity is a layman's

decision since it is the jury which ultimately decides whether the

defendant is sane or insane. This of course is ludicrous since

professional scientists cannot agree on the meaning of mental illness.

How can a layman make such a decision especially after listening to

contradictory testimony which is manipulated by opposing lawyers. I

believe that the major problem that we can point out here is in the

futility of asking psychiatrists to testify in terms of legal concepts

of insanity. The psychiatrist finds himself in a double bind: he has

no medical definition of mental illness and he must answer questions

from lawyers concerning legal insanity, right and wrong, and

irresistible impulses. As stated by Packer: "The insanity defense

cannot tolerate psychiatric testimony since the ethical foundations of

the criminal law are rooted in beliefs about human rationality,

deterribility, and free will. These are articles of moral faith rather

than scientific fact."

MENTAL ILLNESS AND CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR

In the insanity defense we have no variable independent of the

criminal behavior we are studying. Insanity refers to a class of

behaviors known by observing the behavior of the patient, and

criminality is a class of behavior likewise known by observing the

behavior of the defendant. We are involved in classification and

labels. Where we have one class of behaviors labeled as schizophrenia,

and the other class labeled as crimes, what we have are two

co-existing classes of behavior in the same individual, and not a

cause or effect relationship (Simon, 1988;47). A person can be

Catholic and commit a robbery without a casual relationship existing;

likewise, a person can be schizophrenic and a robber without a casual

relationship existing between the two classes of behavior. Coexistence

does not show a casual relationship. Behavior cannot cause behavior.

What we must do, in order to prove a relationship between mental

illness and criminal behavior is produce some independent link between

the two classes of behavior on a biochemical level. We must have a

definition of mental illness independent of the behavioral symptoms in

order to establish a casual relationship between crime and mental

illness. There is such a view and it is termed the Biological

Psychiatric view. The view basically states that there is some defect

or malfunction in the actual make-up of the brain of an individual

which causes schizophrenia. This same defect then causes the criminal

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