Crime and Insanity Flashcards
Who was the father of modern French psychiatry?
Philippe Pinel
What did Phillipe Pinel discover in 1800 in terms of insanity?
Moved away from the idea that insanity was a complete intellectual derangement and instead established partial insanity that left intellectual powers in tact.
Who came up with the term monomania?
Pinels student Jean-Etienne Esquirol in 1817
What is monomania?
A single pathological preoccupation in an otherwise sound mind
What is unusual about monomaniacs?
Appear to be healthily sane people except they may exhibit an unreasonable desire for theft, envy, schemes, fanticies and homicide.
What was the key characteristic of monomania?
Homicide, according to Jean
What did Jean identify monomania as?
It was an instinctive impulse without consciousness, passion or motive
What did Jean do in 1825?
He challenged several verdicts by arguing that the accused suffered from homicidal monomania
What did critiques note about monomania?
The need to murder to satisfy passions is not illness or insanity. The doctrine of monomania aims to excuse the crime by the crime itself
Who coined the term moral insanity in 1835?
Prichard
What did moral insanity mean for the Germans?
Insanity came to mean forms of madness that manifested mainly in the moral sense
When was the earliest use of insanity used as an excuse for crime?
In the classical world (if found guilty people were referred to the King for pardon on the basis of their madness
True or False? In England before 1800 the insanity defence was hardly ever used successfully?
False (was 50% successful)
What happened in the Hadfield case?
Tried to assassinate George III in 1800. Found not guilty by reason of insanity
What resulted out of the Hadfield case?
The criminal lunatics act 1800
What are the McNaughton rules?
The presumption that everyone is presumed sane until the contrary is proved
What were some of the repercussions of the McNaughton rules?
Insanity met some resistance from the judiciary
What did Baron Alderson do in 1844?
Kept a jury locked up without food, drink, or heat for 24 hours until they rejected the insanity plea
What occurred by the 1870s in terms of opinions on the insanity defence?
Jurys were reluctant to see woman executed and were more likely to accept pleas of insanity
What was the trial of lunatics act 1833?
Queen Victoria demanded that the verdict be changed from not guilty to insane so as not to be responsible according to the law
How was insanity viewed in Germany?
Early 19th century acceptance that doctors should be involved to determine insanity
What did Reich law of criminal procedure in 1879 do?
Saw psychiatrists being called upon to give evidence on the mental state of the defendant who did not suffer from full blow insanity
True or false? Juries were not usually persuaded by medical evidence but instead by testimony on people who witness the crime?
True
