Is Insanity a Demeaning Defense?: Examining the Ethics of Offender Pathologization Through the Lens of the Classics

• NCJ Number: 235034
• Journal: Journal of Forensic Psychology Practice Volume: 11 Issue: 2-3 Dated: March - June 2011 Pages: 204-231
• Author(s): Annalise Acorn, B.A., LLB, BCL
• Date Published: April 2011
• Length: 28 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This paper explores the ethical use of the insanity defense by offenders.

Abstract

This article considers the question: is the insanity defense demeaning to the accused and if it is how should actors in the criminal justice system, defense counsel in particular, take into consideration the self-respect interest of the accused in advising on which defense to advance at trial? To explore this question I draw on two literary texts which show the defense as demeaning: Don Quixote de la Mancha by Cervantes and Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky as well as two texts which show insanity as an honour or face-saving defense: Homer's Iliad and Shakespeare's Hamlet. (Published Abstract)