Type a new keyword(s) and press Enter to search

Insanity

 

            
             Criminal insanity is a topic which sparks much heated debate.
             Is insanity a physical or psychological problem? Is insanity actually a disease, or just a .
             figment of a person's imagination? Grolier's Encyclopedia describes insanity as "a mental .
             defect or disorder sufficient to prevent a person from knowing right and wrong conduct or .
             from understanding the nature of his or her actions". Some traits or dispositions are .
             inherited, but the continuity of behavior, including antisocial activity, is maintained by .
             social contexts and other aspects of the environment. If a criminal does not know the .
             difference between right and wrong, can they be held accountable for the crimes they .
             commit? If they don't understand what they are doing is a crime, should they be punished .
             as if they were criminals or treated as patients with a disease? This problem has plagued .
             courts, lawyers, juries, and defendants for a long time and does not appear any closer to a .
             solution. One belief to why people first become criminally insane is because of the way .
             they were treated as children.
             There are many examples to support this theory, which can be found throughout .
             history. One example, a name known throughout the states, is Charles Manson. Charles .
             Manson's home life was not what we would call normal. In fact, he was the son of a .
             teenage, bisexual, alcholic prostitute, and once was traded for a single pitcher of beer. .
             Another example is Henry Lee Lucas, a famous serial killer who, as a child, .
             lost an eye after a severe beating by his mother. (Serial.) These cases as well as many .
             others seem to indicate a correlation between abuse as a child and violent tendancies as an .
             adult. Many killers have been subjected to brutalizing treatment that generated .
             overwhelming hostile and ultimately murderous emotions. Many have been beaten .
             repeatedly or sexually abused as children. (Methvin.) Another link has been found .


Essays Related to Insanity