1,720,972 research outputs found
Legal narratives as significant news sources about mental illness and violent crime
No full textMedia coverage about people affected by mental illness is an area of research that is extensively examined. Many scholars argue that the media depicts people with mental illness as inherently violent and dangerous within sensational narratives. These depictions are criticized for reinforcing the social stigma and disadvantages many of the mentally ill face. The media does, however, require news sources and, in the context of crime and mental illness, the courts are a significant source. Through qualitative content analysis of Australian newspaper articles, this research examines an under-researched and incompletely theorized area. In doing so, it demonstrates that media depictions of some mentally ill offenders reflect and heavily draw upon legal narratives and what is argued in court about these offenders in the context of criminal responsibility and legal insanity
Depressed but not legally mentally impaired
No full textThis article examines the mental impairment (insanity) defense in the Australian state of Victoria and argues that the defense is successful only when offenders suffer from psychotic mental illnesses. This raises the question about how non-psychotic offenders are dealt with by the courts when they claim ‘mental impairment’ for serious acts of violence such as homicide, particularly when a relatively large number of perpetrators involved in homicide suffer from non-psychotic illnesses like depression. The analysis shows that depressive illnesses do not reach the threshold for mental impairment (legal insanity) such that they mitigate violent criminal behavior, although they can, arguably, diminish culpability. This article draws upon existing literature, qualitative analysis of two court cases and semi-structured interviews with four legal representatives to make its conclusion
Homeland and its use of bipolar disorder for sensationalist and dramatic effect
No full textWhen a lead character in a critically acclaimed and award-winning television programme is depicted as a proficient and meticulous heroine with a mental disorder, it is crucial to examine if this reflects a change in the media depiction of people with mental illness. This article employs framing analysis to examine the portrayal of lead CIA agent with bipolar disorder, Carrie Mathison, in Homeland. Although the show did initially associate competence, intellect and astuteness to this character, as it progressed, the framing decisions used for dramatic and sensational purposes ultimately presented Mathison within the usual stereotypical depictions: as impulsive, irrational, unpredictable, unstable, dangerous and disordered. Given the popularity of the show, responsible depictions should take priority over dramatic effect at the expense of a character with mental illness because sufferers may be deterred in speaking about their illness and seeking appropriate treatment if such negative themes persist.</p
Evaluating predominant causes of insanity in cases of drug-induced psychoses
No full textThe insanity defense operates on the basis that individuals who do not have the capacity to understand the consequences or wrongness of their action should not be held criminally responsible because there is a defect of reason. The defect must arise from a ‘disease of mind’ having internal causes. This raises questions about the way the law deals with externally caused defects of reason—such as drug-induced psychoses—because it depends on whether voluntary intoxication caused acute psychosis and ensuing insanity directly linked to voluntary intoxication; triggered or exacerbated an existing psychotic mental illness; or triggered a psychotic illness that was fixed and permanent due to chronic substance abuse but is independent of acute intoxication: a case of ‘settled insanity.’ The latter two conditions can form a sufficient basis for the defense. But can cognitive impairments arising from mental disorders be distinguished from those arising from substance abuse disorders? How are such distinctions made? This article uses an Australian case to illuminate the nuanced operations of the defense because a verdict of ‘not guilty because of mental impairment’ was reached even though the defendant had no prior history of mental illness and had consumed cocaine and methamphetamine prior to his killings. Evaluators should consider the predominant rather than precise cause of insanity in cases in which voluntary intoxication and mental illness are pertinent issues for the purposes of the defense
Testing equality: insanity, treatment refusal and the CRPD
No full textThe Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is considered to be a radical international treaty that affords persons with disability recognition and protection of equal rights in socio-cultural, political, medical and legal arenas. Drawing from the Convention's core principles of equality and non-discrimination, the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Convention's Committee have called for a replacement of the insanity defence with a disability-neutral doctrine. The rationale is that retaining this special defence is, in itself, discriminatory, given its function is necessarily based on the presence of mental disability and the assumption that such disabilities impair capacity and reasoning. This article interrogates the rationale behind ‘abolitionist’ views, and asks whether equality necessarily means treating all persons identically regardless of capacity to reason about conduct.</p
The UK Covid Inquiry should examine the politics of fear
Get PDFOpening paragraph:Recently, the UK Covid Inquiry heard testimony that the BBC consistently misrepresented Covid risk in order to boost public support for lockdown. Yet, to date, the Inquiry has not asked vital questions about the practices of the British media during the crisis and breaches in journalist standards and ethics. The political lens of the media during Covid demands more public scrutiny
The UK Covid Inquiry should examine the politics of fear
No full textOpening paragraph:Recently, the UK Covid Inquiry heard testimony that the BBC consistently misrepresented Covid risk in order to boost public support for lockdown. Yet, to date, the Inquiry has not asked vital questions about the practices of the British media during the crisis and breaches in journalist standards and ethics. The political lens of the media during Covid demands more public scrutiny
Policing Psychiatric Illness: An Organisational Paradox for Health & Law
Get PDFThis conceptual article examines the organisational crisis in England's National Health Service in light of the recently launched model of policing called Right Care Right Person introduced to reduce police hours spent dealing with mental health crisis calls. It is a move that has come with concerns for health services because these newly created gaps alongside the existing ones pose challenges around funding and timescales in implementing the new model. It is a curious case of organisational paradox that diverting mentally ill persons into health services and ‘decriminalising’ those whose health conditions bring them to the attention of the justice system, has raised concerns in the health sector about access to adequate mental health services unless an arm of the justice system is involved. Given the similarities in health and legal systems in the Anglo-Western world, this English model has international implications about organisational paradoxes in health systems
- …
