Mental Illness & Crime & Special Issues with Juveniles Flashcards
Was Jared Lougher (the Tuscon Shooter 2011) found NGI? Competent?
- Shot congresswoman in a shopping mall
- He left a note saying he is not NGI but there were still issues related to competency
- He can’t trust the government because of mind control
Was James Holmes (Batman Shooter 2012) found NGI? Competent?
- Called Batman Shooter because it was at the midnight opening of Batman and he shot people
- He was in control of his actions and boobytrapped his apartment (he knew the wrongfulness of his behavior)
- People made sure that he was not found NGI (social pressure)
- He did not want the death penalty
- Not a sane way he thought about murder
- Agreed to prison sentence
What was found in the Andrea Yates trial?
- She killed five of her children
- First trial not found to meet NGI
- However, there was a mistrial
- There was a new trial and found to meet NGI
- Review this from discussion notes
- Still in psychiatric facility
How do we assess malingering?
- How consistent are symptoms are with the psychotic process?
- Voices outside of head and in both ears
- People do not see writing or experience ringing when experiencing psychosis – this can be a test question
- Distracted with hearing voices
- Pay attention to collateral information
- Delusions related to medical care to monitor certain areas of the body and will not accept this information/medical advice
How does the Son of Sam case relate to malingering?
- Serial killer in NY
- Unsuccessfully tried to malinger
- He thought these golden retrievers were inserting thoughts into people’s heads
- He admitted to faking it and is probably psychopathic
How do lie detectors work?
- Use of control question test (base rate information)
- Not reliable to be used in court settings
- Skin conductance, heart rate (physiological arousal)
Do the differences in manipulation skill and physiological arousal make polygraph less accurate for high PCL-R? (Describe Patrick and Iacono study)
- Prison sample
- Informed subjects goal is can they “beat a lie detector test”
- Other inmates would lose money and be informed if they failed (meaningful reaction)
- Set up mock theft
- High PCL-R no more likely to beat a polygraph than Low PCL-R
- Correctly classified 87% of all subjects
- Only 1 psychopath and 2 non-psychopaths who took money classified as truthful
What percentage of people were able to beat a polygraph if taught? And how?
47% (Bite tongue during control questions and press toes on the floor during control questions)
Explain what was concluded from the study with police officers and polygraphs?
- Police officers are not better than college students at detecting lie
What was concluded from the MacArthur article Violence Risk Assessment Study Revisited article? What’s the debate?
- 1988 researcher reported not more dangerous than general population
- But these population samples were drawn from high-risk neighborhood
- But in fact the violence was high - 27.4% had been violent
- Violence by self-report or family, not always by the legal system
- Issue that was missed initially – if substance abuse abuse and mental illness had comorbidity relationship there was a higher risk for violence in the community
What percentage of gun-related killings in the US between 2001 and 2010 were committed by people with serious mental illness?
4-5%
What percentage of violence is committed by someone with a serious mental illness?
4%
What percentage of mass shootings were done by someone who was mentally ill?
22%
How do we think about the base rate bias as it relates to mass shootings?
- Low frequency but sensational events
- Law develops due to this bias (state by state basis)
- Tendency to view out groups in terms of labels and link behavior of one to the entire group
-Failure to consider base rate in population - Failure to consider real dangerous
What happened in Nikolas Cruz case? How do we assess mental illness concerns?
- 2018 (Killed 17 people at Parkland School)
- Survived and legally obtained AR-15
- Mental health concerns but debate over whether they were serious mental health concerns (depression? developing psychopathy?)
- Given life without parole
- People were calling the police about him and his mother died 6 months before he committed the shooting)
- Takeaway: People with mental health concerns do, even major depression do not go shoot up a school
What is the link with mass shootings and mental illness?
- Politicians claim that mental illness is the cause of mental illness in America even though research does not support this
- Advocates for mental illness say that this is not the reason for this at all
- However, they are both wrong: research shows there is a slight relationship between mental illness and violence but it is not the basis
What increases risk for violence?
Threat control override symptoms
What are threat control override symptoms?
- Mind dominated by forces that are outside of that person’s control
- Thoughts put into head that are not their own
- Assume there are people who wish you to do harm
What are threat control override symptoms?
- Mind dominated by forces that are outside of that person’s control
- Thoughts put into head that are not their own
- Assume there are people who wish you to do harm
What happens when we control for threat control override symptoms?
The relationship between violence and mental illness disappears
What does Aaron Alexis’ case tell us about threat control override symptoms?
- He killed 12 people in Washington Navy Yard in 2013 and was shot during that as well (no NGI)
- He complained to police about hearing voices speaking to him through ceiling through a microwave machine
- There was no intervention
Are people with command hallucinations usually more violent?
Yes: 2x as likely even when controlling for substance use
Are people with schizophrenia, psychosis, and other major mental health disorders the only people to experience command hallucinations?
No – it just depends on the nature of their condition. That is why we see how people with schizophrenia having low degrees of violence.
Who is the most dangerous for base-rate violence?
- 18-29 year olds = 7% violent
- They make up 14% of the population
- 5% of men report violent behavior in the past year
- They make up 49% of the population
At what age in the state of WI when can you end up in the juvenile justice system?
Age 10 (Fourth grade)
What are the two key issues with prosecuting adolescents?
Developmental immaturity and competency to proceed –> the court system should moderate the severity of their punishment
How did researchers, Steinberg and Scott who wrote “Less Guilty by Reason of Adolescence” change the criminal justice system?
They brought their neural research to the Supreme Court and made the the execution of juveniles unconstitutional
What area of the brain is underdeveloped in adolescence and what implications does this have?
- Deficits in interpreting social cues
- Negative emotions can dominate
- Focus on immediate reward
- Less focus on consequences
- Frontal lobes not fully developed
- Plasticity issue
What does “Less Guilty By Reason of Adolescence” assert about developmental immaturity?
Even as cognitive capacities start to approach adult levels, juveniles often lack psychosocial maturity
What are developmental differences that influence decision-making/judgement?
- Susceptibility to peer influence
- Attitudes toward and perceptions of risk
- Future orientation
- Capacity for self management
What is the Dusky standard?
The defendant has the sufficient present ability to consult with his lawyer with a reasonable degree of rational understanding, and whether he has a rational, as well as factual, understanding of the proceedings against him.
How do we assess competency with young children?
- Test abstract concepts (what does it mean for someone to not judge a book by its cover).
- Legal rights are abstract –> some children don’t understand what it means to have the right to remain silent
- Children at this age are not developmentally independent at this age and are easily influenced by authority figures in their life
- Most children cannot abstract things related to the future –> what is the most immediate solution is the mindset that most children have?
What case do we use to assess developmental immaturity?
Slenderman case
