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Legal Argument For Psychopaths

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The legal argument to the criminal responsibility of psychopaths revolves around the importance of emotion in the regards of the criminal act. Section 1.1 of the NCR legislation states that “people who commit criminal acts under the influence of mental illnesses should not be held criminally responsible for their acts or omissions in the same way that sane responsible people are. No person should be convicted of a crime if he or she was legally insane at the time of the offence … Criminally responsibility is appropriate only where the actor is a discerning moral agent, capable of making choices between right and wrong” (The Review Board Systems in Canada, 2015). The legislation states that criminals are responsible for their actions if they are able to demonstrate correct moral judgement. However, the psychopath is unable to fully understand their decision due to their inability to comprehend emotion. “They are entirely unable to use empathy, concern, or morality as reasons not to harm others, even though these are the best reasons to comply with moral and legal rules. They are ‘morally insane’ and are incapable of being morally responsive agents. Psychopaths are simply not part of the moral community and do not deserve blame …show more content…

A study conducted by Pascal Molenberghs tested the brain activity of both psychopaths and non-psychopaths when they shoot a civilian and soldier (Kluger, 2015). In-depth research showcased that the prefrontal and the frontal cortexes were active in those who were not diagnosed psychopaths, while there were no impulses present in the psychopaths’ cortexes. This shows that the psychopath was unable to express empathy to the victim, as they did not have any brain activity. When a person doesn’t have the emotional understanding in their morality, they are more suspect to commit more haphazard actions. This can result in the psychopath lashing out and

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In the scholarly journal written by Vujosevic (2015) he provides a framework to answer the question as to whether psychopaths have a conscience that is dysfunctional. He states, “according to my account, this means that their reflective capacity for moral self-assessment, which triggers self evaluative emotions, is significantly impaired”(Vujosevic, 2015, p. 2). In both authors’ writings it discusses psychopaths and their inability to feel guilt after committing crimes. This lack of remorse is what leads to repeat offenses, which can sometimes lead into serial killers, such as Dahmer. All individuals are born into different circumstances, therefore experiencing varying teachings of moral and ethic ground roots, biological differences impacting

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According to Smith, the recognition of mental illnesses have forced the courts to question legal culpability (6). For example, the 1724 case Rex v. Arnold introduced the principle of “proof of insanity as an exemption from intent” (Smith 6). This led to the adoption of the “Durham Criterion,” in which the courts find that the defendant is not legally responsible if they are proven to have “substantial incapacity to conform to the law” (Smith 13). If we compare the legal history of mental illness to Szasz’s claims that mental illness is a myth, the legal treatment of psychopathy can be shown as another form of toleration. Szasz states that the myth of mental illness functions to create a “social intercourse [that] would be harmonious, satisfying, and the secure basis of a good life” (96).

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In the American society, things are more often than not exaggerated to make things more interesting; leave us ignorant with fantasy of crime, horror, romance, action, and adventure. Psychopaths and sociopaths are often confused with each other, and people believe that the two aren’t any different. In the entertainment business, psychopaths and sociopaths are made out to seem ruthless, violent murderers, rapists and more. While they can be all of these things, the media and entertainment business makes things seem different than they really are. According to definition, a sociopath is a person who lacks empathy, but a psychopath is one that has a complete lack of it.

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) This means that they aren 't able to feel much empathy causing them to commit such violent crimes (Keysers, 2013). Conclusion: Review: Since we established that psychopath have certain characteristic or traits such as speech pattern, abnormal sexual behavior and lack of emotional control. You will now be able to identify a psychopath End-Statement

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