PSY 3173 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Antisocial Personality Disorder, Actus Reus, Paranoid Schizophrenia
12 Jun 2018
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The role of Mental Illness in Court & Psychopathy
Mental disorders
· It is a disorder of the mind that is judged by experts to interfere substantially with a person’s
ability to cope with life on a daily basis
· There are 4 categories of mental disorders that are most likely to be associated with criminal
conduct…
o Schizophrenic disorders
o Paranoid or delusional disorders
o Mood disorders (serious depression)
o Antisocial personality disorder
· However… some of the 4 categories aren’t admissible in court as a defence. These individuals are
not crime prone there’s just a correlation between these mental disorders and crime. Having a mental
illness does not automatically excuse their behaviour.
Schizophrenic disorders
● To diagnose you need ⅖characteristics for at least 6 months
● 5 characteristic symptoms: delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, grossly inappropriate
behaviour and inappropriate affect
○ 5 subtypes:
■ Disorganized type: inappropriate affect and marked incoherence/disorganization
in thought patternex. laugh when something is sad -- not strongly correlated with
criminal behaviour
■ Catatonic type: severe disturbances in muscular and voluntary movement ex.
Tics, social withdrawal (avoid people for long periods), may become mute or talk
like a parrot (just keep repeating the same thing) -- also not associated with
criminal behaviour
■ Paranoid type: delusions and hallucinations(mostly auditory) -- most likely to
exhibit criminal behaviour
■ Undifferentiated type: might have some of the symptoms from other types but
don’t fit clearly into one
■ Residual type: have had at least one episode of schizophrenia, they don’t meet
the criteria anymore for schizophrenia but have some symptoms (ex. Taking
meds for it, may only have 1 symptom)
● Not highly associated with crime but those who do commit crime might have higher level of
VIOLENCE when committing a crime, especially for aggravated assault, homicide or sexual
assault
● Delusions (feel like someone is after you) or those who feel persecuted are more common in
those who commit crimes
● Those who have hallucinations without delusions are less likely to commit a homicide then those
with delusions
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
● According to Laajasalo & Hakkanen (2006), the strongest predictors of excessive violence are
the offender’s own history of violence and the presence of an accomplice at the scene
Paranoid or delusional disorders
● Presence of one or more non-bizarre delusions that persist for at least a month
○ Unlike schizophrenia, the delusions are less bizarre (ex. Aliens are coming to kill you =
bizarre)
○ Ex. of non-bizarre = thinking your neighbor is spying on you and poisoning your dog but
there’s no evidence that it’s happening
· Persecutory type: believe that someone is after you and more likely to be violent: Persecutory
type is the most closely associated with criminal conduct
o often accompanied by anger, resentment and violence
● Paranoid or delusional disorders often accompany other mental or personality disorders
Mood disorders (Major depression disorder)
● Extremely depressed state that lasts for at least two weeks and is accompanied by a generalized
slowing down of mental and physical activity
● Associated to criminal behaviour because it makes the person not care about themselves or what
happens to them
● Depression is strongly associated with delinquency, especially in teenage girls
● Significant role in workplace violence, mass violence (school shooting) or suicide by cop
● Still responsible for your actions
Antisocial personality disorder
History of continuous behavior in which the rights of others are violated
· Strong relationship with criminal offenses
● Not a brain imbalance, personality disorder
● Most personality disorders aren’t a good defence in court
● Tend to lack empathy and basically don’t care about other people, excessive drinking, illicit
drugs or sexual behaviour found to be linked with this disorder
● Impaired in maintaining good relationships and as a result they genuinely fail to be independent
adults (usually can’t be diagnosed until the age of 18)
● They spend most of their lives in institutions (ex. correctional) or highly dependent on their
families, much more impulsive, the crimes aren’t necessarily violent, more frequent in males and
more common in low socioeconomic settings
● 3 behavioural patterns must be present:
○ Failure to conform to social norms or the criminal law
○ Irritability and unusual aggressiveness
○ Consistent irresponsibility
○ Impulsivity or failure to plan ahead
○ Deceitfulness
○ Reckless disregard for the safety of others or self
○ Lack of remorse or guilt for wrongdoings
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Establishing guilt
● Actus reus -> A wrongful deed (the action)
○ Objective component (non-influenced by personal feeling)
○ Based on evidence
● Mens Rea -> Criminal intent
○ Subjective component
● ** need both to find person guilty, first is easier to prove
Actus reus=action
Mens Rea=intent
Burdens of proof (Beyond a reasonable doubt or preponderance of the evidence)
● 1. Beyond a reasonable doubt
○ Standard of proof required in all criminal proceedings
○ It is proof that is just short of absolute certainty
○ In evidence, it means fully satisfied, entirely convinced, satisfied to a moral certainty
● 2. Preponderance of the evidence: need this to be not criminally responsible in the case of mental
illness
○ Standard of proof for civil suits
○ Proof that one side has more evidence in its favour
Fitness to Stand Trial
Unfit if: If you can’t defend yourself or ask someone (a lawyer) to defend you.
● If 1 of the 3 isn’t present then the trial can’t go on, Defendant needs to:
○ Understand the nature of the proceedings
○ Understand the possible consequences of the proceedings
○ Communicate with counsel
● When a person is UST (unfit to stand trial), they remain under the authority of the review board
until they are deemed fit to stand trial or the charges are stayed
● Up until you have a verdict you can stop the trial
● Look at the case every 40 days (review board)
● After 2 years, review if there’s enough evidence to go to trial by the review board
· R.v. Demers(2004) and bill c-10 in 1006
· If an accused is (1) unlikely to ever become fit to stand trial, (2) does not pose a
significant threat to the public and (3) stopping proceeding is in the interests of the proper
admin of justice, a court has the authority to order an absolute discharge
· Demers was charged with sexual assault, deemed not fit to stand trial due to mental
retardation
o Supreme Court decided that he didn’t have to reappear
How is UST assessed?
● Medical practitioner: Only in Canada, this assessment needs to be done by a medical professional
(usually a psychiatrist but you just need to be an md)
○ Clinical psychologists can’t, but a gynecologist could
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
The role of mental illness in court & psychopathy. It is a disorder of the mind that is judged by experts to interfere substantially with a person"s ability to cope with life on a daily basis. There are 4 categories of mental disorders that are most likely to be associated with criminal conduct : schizophrenic disorders, paranoid or delusional disorders, mood disorders (serious depression, antisocial personality disorder. However some of the 4 categories aren"t admissible in court as a defence. These individuals are not crime prone there"s just a correlation between these mental disorders and crime. Having a mental illness does not automatically excuse their behaviour. To diagnose you need characteristics for at least 6 months. 5 characteristic symptoms: delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, grossly inappropriate behaviour and inappropriate affect. Disorganized type: inappropriate affect and marked incoherence/disorganization in thought patternex. laugh when something is sad -- not strongly correlated with criminal behaviour.
