Sociopathic and Other Mentally Ill Offenders Revisited (From Mad, the Bad, and the Different, P 181-187, 1981, Israel L Barak-Glantz et al, ed. - See NCJ-84231)

• NCJ Number: 84241
• Author(s): N J Beran; H E Allen
• Date Published: 1981
• Length: 7 pages
• Sale Source: Lexington Books
• Publication Type: Best Practice/State-of-the-Art Review
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

The current state-of-the-art regarding perceptions of and the handling of competence to stand trial, the insanity plea, and the treatment of incarcerated sociopathic offenders is reviewed, and current issues associated with all types of mentally ill offenders are briefly considered.

Abstract

If a defendant does not understand the nature or object of the criminal proceedings against him/her, the nature of the criminal charges, or is unable or unwilling to assist counsel in a defense, then the typical test of competency to stand trial would have been met. Although the specific criteria for incompetency have rarely been challenged, the motives of those invoking the procedure and the procedure itself are currently under fire. Critics argue that a latent goal of the incompetency procedure is to institutionalize the defendant for indefinite periods without treatment to provide competency or periodic review. In answer to these criticisms, courts and legislatures have mandated treatment, periodic review, and civil procedures for institutionalization for those not likely to be deemed competent within a reasonable time. What constitutes the best test for insanity continues to be hotly debated, along with whether or not the concept itself should be abolished. Current disillusionment with treatment and a return to the classical emphasis on justice through punishments that accord with the severity of the crime may make it more difficult to plead insanity successfully. Sociopaths are frequently defined as chronically antisocial people regularly in trouble with the law who seem incapable of revising their behavior. Simon Dinitz has demonstrated in his research that (1) the sociopath does not suffer from a unitary disorder; (2) one type of sociopath results from an autonomic defect; (3) social forces can also produce a sociopath; and (4) medical intervention can help some incarcerated sociopaths. An issue also gaining increased attention is the right of offenders to refuse treatment. Two notes are provided.