Читать книгу Criminology For Dummies - Steven Briggs - Страница 108

Studies of groups of murderers have revealed that murderers are likely to have lower IQs than the average citizen. You might say that they have mental deficiencies.

Note that a mental deficiency is much different from a mental disease, which is a mental illness as defined by psychiatrists and psychologists. In court, a mental disease can be the basis of an insanity defense. A mental deficiency such as a decreased IQ, on the other hand, can’t be part of an insanity defense; it simply helps explain, in part, why someone may have committed an act of violence.

One mental disease that prosecutors often encounter in criminal cases is paranoid schizophrenia. For example, a person who suffers from paranoid schizophrenia may experience a delusion in which he believes his television is telling him to kill his neighbor’s dog. If he actually kills the dog, he’ll likely be excused from criminal responsibility because of an insanity defense. (For a more detailed discussion of the insanity defense, see Chapter 20.)

A personality disorder is yet another mental problem that can be a cause of violence. Like a mental disease, a personality disorder is diagnosed by a psychologist or psychiatrist. But it’s not considered as severe a disability as a mental disease and, therefore, can’t be used for an insanity defense. These are the two best-known personality disorders in the criminal justice system:

 Narcissistic personality disorder: Someone with this disorder generally sees herself as very important, needs others to see her as important, and lacks the ability to experience empathy with others.

 Antisocial personality disorder: Someone with this disorder has a pattern of disregarding the rights of others that starts when she’s a juvenile and progresses into adulthood.

Similar to antisocial personality disorder is a characteristic known as psychopathy. A psychopath is a predator who uses charm, manipulation, and violence to control others and achieve her own selfish needs without experiencing any guilt or remorse. Studies of psychopaths within prisons reveal that psychopaths are generally untreatable and may even become more cunning and manipulative after being subjected to treatment. Psychopaths are also considered much more likely to engage in future acts of violence than other inmates.

See Chapter 14 for a more detailed discussion of how a psychological or personality disorder can lead to criminal behavior.