Identity Vs Dissociative Identity Disorder

Dissociative Identity Disorder

Science vs Pseudo-science: should psychological defenses be used in the courtroom? The use of psychology as a defense should not be used in courtrooms. They should not be used because there will be defendants who will abuse the justice system just to get away with the crime they have committed, and they might repeat the same crime or commit a worse crime. Many would believe that there are people out there who have mental disabilities, such as dissociative identity disorder, but there will be at times in which the psychologist, defendant's lawyer, and doctors can prove that the suspect during the questioning process can prove the defendant's disorder was the reason. Then the defendant would go to a psychiatric

In the movie Identity (2003), the perpetrator known as Malcolm Rivers was a man who suffered with D.I.D was sentenced to death for the murders of several people. It was the job of the defensive team of Malcolm's lawyers and psychologist to prove that he was legally insane at the time he committed the murders. The job of the psychiatrist was to get Rivers to prove that he can get rid of every personality to get to the one “good” personality in front of the judge and prosecutors. The many different personalities that Rivers had was a ex cop and limo driver Ed, a ex actress Caroline, a quite adolescence Timmy, his step dad George and mother Alice, a prostitute Paris, two runaway convicts Rhodes, and Robert, newlyweds Lou and Ginny, and the motel owner- in which the location of where all of Rivers personalities meet- Larry. The treatment was to get River to kill off all of his personalities, Rivers successfully ends with the personality of Paris which get the judge to overturn the death penalty and send him to the psychiatric ward for life. This may seem like a good claim as to why there should be a psychological defense in court but this claim should be refuted, because in the end of the movie River was able to hide one of his “bad” personalities of Timmy who was the personality that “killed” all the other personalities and kills Paris because he was the strongest personality and the personality that Rivers was when he committed all the murders. This causes Rivers to kill the psychologist and the diver of the van that would send him to the psychiatric ward. Not all the time a psychological base defense can work because like in the movie Identity, the psychologist wasn’t successfully able to prove that you can “kill” off each personality to prove that the defendant was legally insane during the