Insanity Defense for "Girl" by Jamica Kincaid

333 Words2 Pages
* Welcome, guest! * Login * Join eNotes ------------------------------------------------- Top of Form Bottom of Form * Literature * Question & Answer * Discussion * Documents * Teachers * College * Reference * Topics & Authors * Science * Law & Politics * History * Business * Social Sciences * Arts * Health Get immediate homework help! We have live tutors standing by. Home > Encyclopedia of Psychology > Insanity Defense * ------------------------------------------------- Top of Form Search Encyclopedia of Psychology: Bottom of Form Insanity Defense:A defense in which a person can be found not guilty, or not responsible, for a crime because, at the time of the crime, the accused was unable to differentiate between right and wrong, based on the fact that the accused suffers from mental illness or mental defect. The insanity defense allows a mentally ill person to avoid being imprisoned for a crime on the assumption that he or she was not capable of distinguishing right from wrong. Often, the sentence will substitute psychiatric treatment in place of jail time. The idea that some people with mental illness should not be held responsible for crimes they commit dates back to the Roman Empire, if not earlier. The "not guilty by reason of insanity" (NGRI) verdict rests in part on two assumptions: that some mentally ill people cannot be deterred by the threat of <A...< p> [The entire page is 1297 words long] Join eNotes The above is a free excerpt. Get total access to this content with the: eNotes Pass Join eNotes Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more! Popular * Literature * Question & Answer * Groups * Authors * Topics * College * Shakespeare Join

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