Question

Every week there is a crime committed either locally, regionally, or nationally. As described in Chapter 12, insanity is a legal term that determines a person's competency in standing trial for a crime they have committed. Do you think we use mental illness as a justification for criminal activity, or is it not used enough?

Your initial post should be at least 100 words in length.

Answer 1

According to various surveys, it has been found that majority of criminal activities do not get a link with mental disorders. Depressions and various types of bipolar disorders have been found as a cause of different different criminal activities.

Generally there is a perception that people with mental illness can be violent and can also proved to be a potential threat to society but this is not true. A definite pattern can not set between establishment of criminal activities and mental illnesses.

It has been found that criminal activities remains associated with factors like unemployment and social inequalities. Homelessness and substance abuse are some other reasons for criminal activities. There are very few cases where a criminal committed repeated crimes due to some mental illnesses.

It is also a fact that people with mental illness remain more prone to get involved in crime. Mental illness can not be a justification for any criminal activities but there remains a need to track the person medical history so that probability of getting indulged in criminal activities can easily be find out.

Precautionary measures must be taken in time to avoid any unwanted situation. Proper monitoring of person with mental illness helps in identifying their behavioural pattern. It may provide various insights into their actions which becomes useful in prediction of behavior and control of crime.