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Myth of Mental Illness

In: Philosophy and Psychology

Submitted By jorge9352
Words 826
Pages 4
In the introduction handout, Thomas Szasz is quoted from his book The Myth of Mental Illness as arguing that “mental illness is not an illness at all but merely a failure to cope with normal life”. Even though people who commit a crime should be punished, those who have a mental illness should be treated with a slight difference compared to those who are of competent mind when they commit their crime. It is said that the population of those with a mental illness is higher in prisons than in the general population which is most likely due to the fact that people with mental illnesses are more likely to participate in an act of violent assault or sexual assault than people who do not have a mental illness. (Paraphrased page 9) The insanity defense became popular especially after high profile cases such as Daniel M’Naughten, John Hinckley Jr., and many more. With this defense becoming more common, those opposed to the defense began to make it stricter to use it because some felt it was a “copout” and that it is often abused. One way in which they sought to make the insanity defense stricter is by requiring that for the defense to be used, the perpetrator must not be of sound mind meaning they must not understand the act that they had committed and/or they must not be able to understand that the act was wrong (morally and legally).
On the other hand, those who support the insanity defense believe that there are actually not that many cases in which a defendant claims the insanity defense (less than one percent). They also claim that it is necessary because it is “morally wrong” to treat them as you would a person of sound mind because they are unable to understand the crime, their actions, and the law. For example, there are laws in effect which hold children to a different standard as well as those who are intellectually disabled because you can’t expect a

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