1. What are the Consequences of Labeling People?
Ideally, accurate diagnoses lead to proper treatments, but diagnoses may also become labels that depersonalize individuals and ignore the social and cultural contexts in which their problems arise.
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

2. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
I CAN
Explain the consequences of labeling
Determine the significance of “insanity”
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

3. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Ideally, accurate diagnoses lead to proper treatments, but diagnoses may also become labels that:
Depersonalize individuals
Ignore the social and cultural contexts in which their problems arise
Create a “crutch”
Allow others to stigmatize them for their diagnosis
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

4. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
The Plea of Insanity
Insanity A legal term, not a psychological or psychiatric one, referring to a person who is unable, because of a mental disorder or defect, to confirm his or her behavior to the law.
.85% of defendants use an insanity plea
Successful insanity pleas are very rare
NGRI is so controversial, that many states have introduced the option Guilty but Mentally Ill (GBMI), so the defendant will serve time AND be treated for mental illness.
This prevents a person from “getting away” with crimes even when mental illness contributed to its commission
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

5. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
John Hinckley Jr.
Found not guilty" for reason of insanity in the 1982 trial for his attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan.
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

6. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Jeffrey Dahmer
Dahmer was convicted of the murder of 15 young men, whose mutilated, cannibalized bodies had been found in his Milwaukee apartment. At trial, he admitted the killings, but pled not guilty by reason of insanity. His plea was rejected, and the jury found Dahmer to be legally sane at the time of the murders. He was sentenced to 15 life terms.
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

7. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
The Dahmer conviction was hailed by many as the death of the insanity defense. If such a clearly deranged killer could not be found legally insane, it seemed unlikely that the defense would ever be successful, at least in a high profile case involving a violent crime.
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

8. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
CAN I
Explain the consequences of labeling
Determine the significance of “insanity”
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007