Mad About the Insanity Defence essays

Mad About the Insanity Defence essays Insanity, is it a game that criminals can play to get out of a death sentence, or is it actually a disease that effects certain people? Insanity has been a subject of debate for many years. The majority of people in the United States feel that there is just to great of a chance for someone to pretend they are mentally ill. Instead of having the mentally ill get the treatment they need a jury is sending them a way to spend the rest of their life behind bars or even to be executed. If someone cannot tell the difference between right and wrong then how can they be convicted of a crime if they didnt understand it was a crime? The insane need to be treated with psychiatric help and then need to be made into productive citizens. Perhaps if more of the criminally insane were treated, doctors might someday find away to stop the next Son of Sam from killing. What makes someone insane? Are they simple born like that or is it something that can happen over time? There are many different answers to this. One is that they are born mentally ill, another is brain tumors or injuries to the brain. One thing remains a fact though, that all criminals are not created equal and all punishments should not be the same. Indeed, there are countless levels of criminal activity that prove to land offenders in jail, with a percentage of those criminals committing their crimes under the duress of mental illness. These prisoners, while deserving of severe punishment, often do not have full control of their faculties. These orphans of society are often compelled by an emotional or mental imbalance that provokes them to act savagely toward their fellow human beings. One might assert the fact that what these disturbed individuals need is assisted treatment, not prison. Rafter (1997) discusses the subject of criminals being so badly abused in jails that mo st of them are killed by fellow inmates before their sentence is up. ...