WDW101Y1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Master Sergeant, Mens Rea, Rational Choice Theory
Document Summary
This week we are talking about the notion of a cultural defence. Next week we will talk about it in relation to psychiatry. Now we will talk about the notion of a cultural defence itself without the notion of a mental disorder. This isn"t just an issue confined to the us, but imn the context of the us, their legal dabates tend to produce a kind of clarity you don"t see in other places. The two most famoua cultural defence cases (talk about it next week) have notions of mental disability. Someone who has recently immigrated, who has been socialized in a culturally distant environment, where things are different, has moved to another cultural jurisdiction. They commit an act that is accepted or encouraged in their home culture, but falls foul of the law. Should they be offered a defence in this case.
