Paper requirements:
locate a criminal case where one of the below-discussed defenses of diminished capacity was used. Provide a brief explanation of the case, the defense used, and the outcome of the trial. At the end of your essay, explain your view/opinion on the use of that particular defense.
The Insanity Defense
One of psychology’s major contributions to legal proceedings is assessing whether defendants were unable either to understand the nature of what they were doing or, if they did understand, to recognize that their actions were wrong at the time of the crime. This differs from not knowing an action was illegal, because, as is often quoted, “ignorance is no defense before the law.” Rather, this concept is concerned with the lack of moral awareness of the wrongful nature of the actions. This subtlety often confuses lay discussions of obviously heinous crimes such as serial killings. The killings may appear to go so far beyond morally acceptable behavior that the murderer, by any reasonable standards, must be regarded as insane. However, if the perpetrator has enough grasp on reality to be aware of what he or she is doing and that it is wrong, then under the law, the murderer cannot plead insanity. This is why very few serial killers are ever found not guilty by reason of insanity.
The difference between the legal definition and the public understanding of insanity often stirs debate. Many people might regard a man as “out of his mind” if he carries out actions that are difficult to comprehend, such as killing his children to exact revenge against his wife or killing complete strangers eating in a restaurant. For the court, though, if the perpetrator knows what he is doing and that the action is wrong, he is sane.
The insanity defense has implications for dealing with children because most jurisdictions accept that children below a certain age are unable to tell right from wrong. Interestingly, this minimum age of criminal liability varies from 7 years old in India to 18 in Brazil. In the United States, a 10-year-old can be charged with a federal offense. To allow children to give evidence, a psychologist may also be called to establish that the young witness really does know the difference between right and wrong, and truth and lies.
Diminished Capacity and Related Defenses
The XYY Chromosome Defense
Since the 19th century, proposed biological theories have sought to link criminal behavior with innate characteristics, yet these theories have been strongly challenged by the scientific community. With the development of modern genetics, scientists have noted abnormalities in the chromosomal structure of some people. In 1961, the discovery of the XYY abnormality proposed a link between the abnormality and aggressive and impulsive behavior. This “supermale” syndrome seemed to be confirmed when studies of prison populations showed the presence of the abnormality to be significantly higher than in the general population. After this study, defense attorneys have attempted to use this as a defense in criminal trials. However, using this theory has not be successful in the United States.
The Premenstrual Syndrome Defense
Premenstrual stress syndrome, in which women at a particular stage of the menstrual cycle may be more emotionally vulnerable and suffer a mixture of physical and psychological deficits, has been accepted as a form of temporary insanity in a number of jurisdictions. In other countries, this defense has been used in violent assaults, and in a few cases, even murders; however, the defense has not been used in the United States. Clearly, a gender asymmetry exists in application of this defense, for although some evidence exists for monthly mood swings in males, this cannot be directly related to major psychological changes. Therefore, one basic tenet of the law – that all people are equal before it – is not fully endorsed by the advocacy of this defense.
The Battered Woman Syndrome Defense
Battered woman syndrome (BWS) found its way to court possibly before the PTSD defense. Attorneys have used BWS to explain why a woman who has suffered extensive physical abuse over a period of time would fail to leave the relationship, even when the batterer was absent or asleep. The syndrome’s characteristics revolve around the idea that the victim is actually taught by the offender to become helpless. The learned helplessness phenomenon was first observed in animals unable to escape electric shocks in experiments. The animals eventually stopped trying to avoid the shocks and listlessly sat there. Passivity in relation to unavoidable, random abuse has since been confirmed in many humans.