Insanity Defense: A Criminology Examination

This article explores the relationship between mental health and criminal law in criminology. It discusses the insanity defense and its impact on the justice process. The article also examines various criminological theories related to mental health and their impact on criminal behavior.

Running Head: CRIMINOLOGY 0
Criminology
Student’s Name
10/10/2018

CRIMINOLOGY
Contents
Thesis Statement..............................................................................................................................2
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
What is Insanity?.............................................................................................................................3
Relationship of insanity and Psychopathy.......................................................................................4
Criminological theories related to mental health.............................................................................4
What is Insanity Defense.................................................................................................................7
Insanity Defense: A Criminology Examination..............................................................................8
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................12
References......................................................................................................................................13

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Thesis Statement
Thesis statement for the assignment is insanity defense: A criminological Examination.
Introduction
The topic of the assignment is focused on issues named mental illness and disorder and their
relation with the crime with the perspective of defense. The association between these factors has
been the lead focus for many decades (Stevens, 2013). Behind every crime, there are certain
reasons, which work as lead force and promote a criminal to commit such crime. These reasons
are often known as theories of criminology (Briggs, 2018). In the presented assignment, many
criminological theories will also be discussed. Mental illness and disorders are other aspects in
the area of criminology. These aspects are a topic of debate because in many of the cases judges
do allows the same as defense and many times, they do not do so. The center of the debate is to
check that how important insanity defense is for the criminals who commit crime cause of
mental illness or related criminological theories.
There is a strong relationship between mental disorder and criminal law and the criminological
theories develop such relation (Maillet, 2018). The justice processes in criminal cases are far
clear but the same gets complicated when a defendant of a case diagnosed with mental disorder
or insanity. Such issues among defendants affect the whole justice process from investigation till
the final justice.
In the assignment further, many of the criminological theories will be discussed that put a
significant impact on the offending and reoffending of a criminal and affect their mental health
in various modes. The study of mental disorder and insanity is also important for the reason to

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check the intention of the criminal. The intention is a significant term for the judges to give a
decision under criminal cases.
In addition to mental disorder, some other forces are also there cause of which a person commits
the crime. These causes reflect by the different criminological theories (Criminal Justice, 2018).
The assignment will include the different criminological theories, their relationship with insanity
and examination of the insanity defense.
What is Insanity?
Before moving ahead with any order discussion, firstly this is necessary to understand that what
exactly insanity is? In a general sense, this may be stated that insanity is a mental state in which a
person does not remain an understanding one any longer. The brain is the element, that gives
instructions to the human body, but when a person is insane, he/she cannot think like a
reasonable person. There is no worldwide-accepted definition of insanity. In the opinion of
doctors, insanity is a wider term in comparison to what a legal system includes. It is a situation
where a person does not know that what actually he/she is doing and what results their action can
lead (Howes, 2009). The mental illness and disorder is not a limited term and included many of
the diseases (Namica.org, 2018). Insanity is also known as mental disorders. It is a mental status
brings several disturbances in the behavior as well as in thought process of a person that makes
him/her incapable to cope up with the ordinary routines and demands of life. This would not be
wrong to state that insanity leads out an innocence behavior in a person, as the same cannot plan
anything intentionally. According to the age and surrounding of a person, there can be several
reasons behind the development of an insanity issue to a person.

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Relationship of insanity and Psychopathy
The term Psychopathy is important to discuss here as the same is very much connected to mental
thinking and criminological theories. Many of the people understand Psychopathy as a kind of
insanity, nevertheless, the scope of both of these term i.e insanity and Psychopathy is different
from one another. Psychopathy is a deep subject to study. According to the seminal 2012 FBI
report, most of the criminals in a prison have founded Psychopaths (Tang, 2016). A Psychopath
is a person who has less or even no emotion in respect to others. Such people do the acts what
they think of correct. They are unabashed in their action in against of others (Bonn, 2018).
Many of the criminological theories are there which are connected with the mental status of
mind. A criminal plan a crime with the help of his/her mind, and therefore the insane people
cannot do the same. Psychopathy is a term that connects criminological theories to the insanity
state.
Although this is to be stated that all Psychopaths are not insane, however, they are not mentally
healthy. In actual out of many studies and research results, it has been noted that Psychopaths
have more intelligent brain compare to normal people (Sheridan, 2012). They have the ability to
develop the plans and to execute the same very smartly. A Psychopathy often considers as
antisocial one. This can be stated that an insane and a Psychopath both are mentally ill but an
insane person is innocent in general whereas a Psychopath has the capability to plan a crime with
a mens rea.
Criminological theories related to mental health

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As mentioned earlier, criminals get influenced by some of the factors and commit a crime; these
factors are known as criminological theories. Therefore, criminological theories can be
understood as forces behind of a crime. Many of the researchers have developed their research
on the topic namely "relationship between criminal behavior and mental disorders." Insanity is a
topic that relates to many of the criminological theories. Following are some of the
criminological theories that will explain that in which manner, mental health of a criminal get
affect by various factors
 Rational Choice Theory: - This theory of crime believes that every behavior of a criminal
has an objective and goal. According to this theory, all the criminal activities aimed at
achieving some desired goals. According to many of the studies, people with mental
disorder often commit crimes under this theory. The reason behind the same is that such
people depend on others for emotional and material support and therefore violence
becomes rational for them (Silver, 2014a) . They choose criminal behavior over and
above other consideration in their lives. Crimes by insane people are not random and the
same has a proper reasoning, as stipulated above.
 Social Disorganization Theory: - This theory makes it focus on the environment and
believes that a person commits crime because of social environment and surroundings
(Grossman, 2016). As the name implies, the theory believes that a person gets influenced
by neighborhood characteristics. When it comes to the application of this theory to
mentally disordered people, it has been seen that in the current time, such people remain
in care house where they seek all kind of mental health services. A handful of research
and studies have tried to evaluate the impact of neighborhood on the violent behavior of
mentally sick people. All these studies have found that people with mental disorders are

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more likely to commit the crimes and violence in comparison to other people as they live
in poor neighborhoods and the same affect their behavior.
 Social Control Theory:- Social control theory states that many of the social boundaries
such as relationship, commitment, norms, and values are there which encourages an
individual to comply with all the possible laws. When all the other criminological
theories focus on the topic that why people commit a crime, social control theory
provides opposite approach (criminal-justice.iresearchnet.com, 2018). It states that why
people do refrain from offending. The theory believes that a person commits a crime
when social bonds are not strong. This theory is also an important one to study in respect
to people with mental disorders. Mentally disordered people are incapable to achieve the
valued life generally. For instance, they remain incapable to finish their high school, to
get an employment and to get married timely. In this manner, they do have less access to
the interdependent systems of obligation, which increase criminal behavior in them. Even
if they somehow managed to engage in culturally prescribed roles, which increases social
controls, these roles involve interpersonal conflict (Silver, 2014b). People with a mental
disorder get less support and more rejection from society and therefore according to this
theory, people with mental disorders are more likely to commit crimes.
 Biological Theory: - As the name reflects, the theory says that a person gets his/her
criminal behavior from his/her parents. The theory believes that people are born criminal
and there is no role of social, economic, or other factors to develop the same into a
criminal. In cases of mentally disordered people, the theory believes that such people get
their insanity inheritance and therefore becomes the criminal cause of their insanity and

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violence behavior. According to the Lombroso's Theory, mentally ill people get their
criminal behavior from their parents (Historyextra.com, 2018).
In addition to the aforementioned theories, some other criminological theories are also there that
develop criminal behavior in insane/mentally ill people. Self-Control theory is one out of them.
The theory says that a person acts to fulfill his/her endless desires. According to this theory, there
is no requirement of having a particular reason to commit the crime (Clevenger, Navarro and
Jasinski, 2016). The self-interest and human desires are enough to motivate a person to commit a
crime. A person who does not know to control his/her desires becomes a Psychopath when such
desires do not get fulfill and in order to satisfy those desires, the same turn into a criminal.
Applying this theory to mentally ill people, this is to be stated that they remain incapable to
fulfill their desires and therefore there is a chance that they turn into criminal in comparison to
other people.
Strain Theory is a most important theory to discuss in this context. The theory itself says that a
person who commits a crime do the same in order to get some relief from his/her personal stress.
For instance, an individual who is facing poverty can become a thief. Probabilities are there that
a mentally ill person can become criminal under this theory as such people face a lot of strain
from their families as well as society. To release out that strain, insane people commit more
crime. All these criminological theories, when study in the context of insane people, force them
to commit crime and present in more volume in comparison to other people.
What is Insanity Defense

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Mental disorders and illness works as a defense in many of the criminal cases. It means the court
does not held a person liable who has committed a crime if such person is a legally insane
(Law.Com, 2018). It becomes a typical situation for the courts too as they cannot determine the
liability of a person who commits a crime and is a victim of mental illness. In some of the cases,
the court held such people liable for a crime but give them very less punishment. However, this
is to be stated that the court must have reason to believe in the insanity of the criminal.
The insanity defense is an excuse that provides a safeguard to a person who is mentally insane at
the commitment of a crime.
Under Singapore law, a person can take the defense of insanity in a criminal case subject to the
terms and requirements of the law (Cheong, Yeo and Hor, 2013). According to the rule of
defense of insanity, a person will not be held liable if he/she is not able to understand that what
he/she is doing and is not able to know the consequences of his/her act.
Mental disorders have a significant impact on the crime rate. The legal system has their different
basis to determine that whether the factors like mental disorder and illness put any impact on the
reduction of crime. Crime can be intentional and unintentional (Yaffe, 2012). People, who are
insane, mostly do a crime without any wrongful intention. The mental disorder of a person,
reduce the possibility of intentional crime because an insane person cannot plan a crime
intentionally, and this is the reason that crime committed by a person having a mental disorder is
usually unintentional and court do not punish such the criminal because of the insanity defense.
Insanity Defense: A Criminology Examination

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As mentioned earlier, the insanity defense is a significant term in the area of criminology as it
provides a safeguard to most of the criminals. Most of the crimes require a criminal must be of
the guilty mind (Thompson, 2012). What a defendant was thinking of while committing a crime
or what was the reason behind doing so. Here the role of forces behind a crime comes into light.
There can be a number of reason for that a person commits a crime; however, the intention is a
different thing to be discussed.
The test of Mens Rea allows a justice system to make a difference between the person who did a
crime intentionally and in another person who did it without any intention (Science Direct,
2018). The situation where a person commits a crime without having any wrongful intention,
there is a high chance that such a person has suffered from some kind of mental illness or illness.
As the intention is highly significant to review in the cases of crime, the person with mental
disorder grants some privileges over and above other criminals as it is very general that a person
who is not even able to understand the other things cannot plan a crime intentionally (Rueve and
welton, 2008). This privilege is nothing else but insanity defense.
Under the criminal law of any nation, the decision is more strict in those cases where a person
commits a crime intentionally in comparison to those where a person does the same
unintentionally. However, in the recent years, some criminal law has been developed in which
the intention remains no longer a topic of discussion and judges held a person victim who
commits a crime regardless of his/her intention. Such rule is termed as strict liability rule.
The mental illness and disorder is not a limited term and included many of the diseases
(Namica.org, 2018). It has been noted that while reviewing the state of mind of a criminal, the
court only considers the complete insanity or some other defined disorders. The medical science

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is a broad subject and the same identifies a number of diseases related to mind which affect the
behavior of a person. A human body acts according to the instructions of the brain and one
cannot be expected to act as a reasonable person if the mind of the same does not work in a
natural manner (Teenshealth, 2018). Only some kinds of mental disorders can be used as a
defense before the courts in criminal cases, whereas in the opinions of psychiatrists and
psychologist, there are a number of other disorders also do exist.
It is not right to exclude all such mental disorders from the purview of insanity defense that
actually exist and affect the behavior of a person. What about the rights of a person who is not
completely insane but the mental situation of such a person is not completely normal. The judges
need to understand that behavior of a person strictly affects the crime, and it is the human brain,
which controls such behavior. If a mind of a person is not stable, how can he/she be expected to
behave like any other healthy person? (Morin, 2018). If a person commits a crime because of the
instability of his/her mind or any other mental, the same cannot be held liable because of
innocent nature.
Refusal or withdraw of defense
In many of the cases, it has been set out that a person who found not guilty because of his/her
insanity cannot refuse to take this defense further in the case. It means a person cannot withdraw
this defense in order to pursue some other alternatives. Nevertheless, there are some exceptions
to this rule. It means some situations are there when a person can refuse to take this defense even
after accepting the same once. State v. Connelly, 700 A.2d 694 (Conn. App. Ct. 1997), is the
significant case to study here. In this case, the criminal has found not guilty at the very first
instance because of his mental condition, but later on, the criminal has rejected this defense by

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filing a pro se writ of habeas corpus. Frendak v. United States, 408 A.2d 364 is a landmark
decision, where it was given that insanity defense cannot grant forcefully to someone. If a
criminal does not want to take the same, the court cannot grant this defense forcefully.
Issues involved
Scope and definition of insanity are different under the medical system and legal system and
hence some issues are involved in criminal cases. It has been reviewed in many of the cases and
practices describe the same that justices send the criminal to prison when they do not fall under
the category of insane regardless of their other mental disorders (Vaths and Rajpal, 2018). A
person who is medically insane sends to the prison by justices where he/she was required to refer
to a hospital in actual, which is not fair. Apart from the complete insanity, there are many order
disorders do exist where a person loses his/her capacity of thinking and due to the same commits
some crime. As this disorder is not insanity in the opinion of the law, justices treat such person as
a criminal under criminal law and send the same to prison.
Current scenario v expected one
At present, section 84 of the Penal Code says that a person of unsound mind will not be held
liable for any type of crime committed by him/her as this is to understand that such person
cannot do a crime intentionally (Singapore Statues Online, 2018). The definition of unsound
mind is limited to complete or almost completes insanity. The person who does not fall in this
category but has some issues with mental health cannot get any remedy. To take a defense of
insanity, a person needs to be completely unsound with his/her mind.
Definition of insanity should be changed in order to provide proper justice to both the parties to
the case. Medical insanity is also a disorder. A person, who is already incapable of mind, should

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not be more bother on the basis of criteria of his/her insanity. If doctors are considering a person
insane then legal system should support such circumstances. Sending a person with a mental
disorder to prison cannot be called a valid decision. The same is not even ethical.
The issue discussed above is possible to resolve. By introducing other mental disorders to the
definition of insanity, the issue can be deal with. The insanity defense is not new and is there
since years in the judicial system. The topic is important to study also for another reason as the
sanity of a person influence the decision of judges and mental disorders and insanity provides the
judges a basis for the judgment
Conclusion
In order to complete the presented essay, this is to state that insanity is a mental state in which a
person commits a crime without any wrongful intention. Criminological theories are another area
of study in Criminal law that has been discussed in the presented essay. These theories are the
major forces behind a crime. Psychopathy of a person can also be considered as a criminal theory
because according to this, a person first becomes psycho and then convert into a criminal in the
cases of psychopathy. This is the reason that this can state that all the rude and violent criminals
are a psychopath but not every psychopath is necessarily a criminal. Insanity is a mental situation
of a person where a second person has reason to believe that the insane person cannot plan a
crime. How justices can held such person liable? The insanity defense is there to protect the
insane and mentally disordered people from unjustified charges and punishments, and the same
is a very significant aspect of criminology. The current legal system that is presented to deal with
the issue is also been reviewed and discussed. By looking after the discussion made above, this
would be correct to mention that the current legal system is not supportive enough. The person

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who is not completely insane cannot take the insanity defense even being mentally disabled in
another way. Doctors have more knowledge about the mental status of someone's mind and
justices should consider the comments and opinions of doctors.

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