The older basis for pleading insanity requires the person to be “so severely disturbed at the time of his act that he did not know what he was doing, or if he did know what he was doing, did not know that it was wrong”. Some states have also added “irresistible impulse”, which states that “some mentally ill individuals may respond correctly when asked if a particular act is morally right or wrong but may be unable to control their behavior” (Atkinson et al. 632-633).

Although standards have changed a bit, the idea behind the insanity plea remains the same. In the 1970’s, not all, but most state and federal courts adopted a new legal definition proposed by the American Law Institute (ALI) stating, “A person is not responsible for criminal conduct if at the time of such conduct, as a result of mental disease or defect, he lacks substantial capacity either to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct or to confor

Most people with antisocial personality disorder are in constant trouble with the law, cannot keep a job, are aggressive, and do not have many social supports (Borduin and Kocsis). Barlow and Durand comment that “the more social supports people have, the less likely it is that they will become ill” (96). Bigger has practically no social supports. Bigger does not think highly of Gus, Jack, and JH who were pretty much his only friends except Bessie, but Bigger killed her. Bigger has also been in trouble with the law before and is in a work program.

Moreover, Bigger is most anxious when he is being questioned by investigator Britten about Mary’s disappearance. When Bigger is fumbling with Mary’s trunk, and the investigator walks in “panic seized Bigger.” Bigger is frightened at the thought of Britten being a cop. All during Britten’s questions Bigger keeps looking at the furnace and getting nervous about the ashes and whether or not enough coal is in the furnace to keep it going and keep the fire hot. Bigger is afraid that the body will not fully burn and that will be his demise. When Britten asks Bigger questions Bigger tries to keep the answers as short as possible because he is scared he might say something to incriminate himself. Bigger feels saying “’yessuh,’ is safest” thing to say to keep himself out of trouble. Bigger is terrified Britten will figure him out (Wright 155-156).

There is no question that Bigger Thomas has an antisocial personality disorder and is therefore guilty but mentally ill. Stress has caused anxiety and aggression in matters dealing with social and romantic relationships, living conditions, family life, and childhood and adolescent experiences. All of these factors lead straight to Bigger’s illness. Bigger is not insane and therefore cannot be found not guilty by reason of insanity but he does have a mental illness and for this reason he must be found guilty but mentally ill and possibly receive treatment.

Guilty but mentally ill is one more option. A verdict of guilty but mentally ill is found “when a defendant is found to have a substantial disorder of thought of mood that afflicted him at the time of the crime and that significantly impaired his judgement, behavior, capacity to recognize reality, or ability to cope with the ordinary demands of life.” The mental illness “falls short of legal insanity.” A defendant given the verdict guilty but mentally ill would be sent to either a jail to receive treatment, or a mental hospital until the person could return to jail to complete his sentence (Atkinson et al. 632-633).

in their shabby apartment. In this situation Bigger has to deal with family stress. The problems of the living conditions cause the stress to be worse than if Bigger’s family did not have to worry about their living conditions.

m his conduct to the requirements of the law.” The ALI uses words like “substantial” to suggest that “any incapacity is not enough to avoid criminal responsibility but that total incapacity is not required either,” and the word “apprec

Some topics in this essay:
Bigger Thomas, Institute ALI, Mary Dalton, Barlow Durand, Bigger Wright, Britten Bigger, Bessie Bigger, Mary Jan, Bigger Bigger, Bigger Bigger’s, antisocial personality, mentally ill, personality disorder, guilty mentally ill, antisocial personality disorder, guilty mentally, atkinson et al, atkinson et, et al, bigger feels, bigger care, bigger thomas, living conditions, people antisocial personality, et al 632-633,