NCJ Number
116690
Journal
Law and Contemporary Problems Volume: 49 Issue: 3 Dated: (Summer 1986) Pages: 147-159
Date Published
1986
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This article argues that the medical model of criminality is flawed because it does not recognize that real differences exist between the goals of law and medicine.
Abstract
The article distinguishes between punishment in law and medicine, noting that it is not possible for the medical model response to crime to eliminate criminal responsibility. Additionally, the physician who provides the medical excuse for a patient's behavior is not trained nor authorized to excuse criminal behavior. He cannot act as physician and judge at the same time. While the current system of determinate sentencing is far from ideal, it is more just than the indeterminate sentences advocated under the medical model. The article concludes that the rehabilitation of criminals is not helped by a system that defines crime in medical rather than punitive terms. Social hygiene alone should not determine how we treat those who have broken the law. 52 footnotes.