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120 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Describe the Salem witch trials (1692). |
- Children told falsehoods and claimed that they witnessed defendants perform supernatural feats. - after many years, children took back their statements - suggested that children were not believable |
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Describe child testimony in the early 20th century. |
- research suggested children were highly suggestible and had difficulty separating fact from fantasy, causing them to provide inaccurate testimonies, even if they were of personal significance. |
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What was special about the 1970s? |
- research on child witness abilities became important again. |
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What did Ceci and Bruck (1993) outline that led to a renewed interest in child witnesses? |
1. Expert psychological testimony was becoming more acceptable in the courtroom 2. Social scientists were interested in research that could be applied to real-world problems. 3. Studies on adult eyewitness testimony were increasing. 4. The legal community became interested in behavioural science research regarding child witnesses. |
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Why was the 4th point important? |
- it was in response to the increasing number of reported sexual and physical abused cases where a child was involved. |
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Describe the R. v. Sterling case and its importance to forensic psychology. |
- child had a rash, parents suspected abuse at babysitters - Doctor said no, but babysitter was investigated - Interviewed the child/children intensely with leading questions and rewards - Many convictions overturned due to inappropriate interview techniques used on children. - Also lack of physical evidence |
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Describe the Klassens and the Ross foster parent scandal. |
- accused of abuse based on child testimony - kids eventually admitted they made the whole thing up. - crown had doubts but proceded anyway. - again, child interview techniques and malicious intent by the crown prosecutor. |
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From Dr. John Yuille perspective, why can children be induced into making false accusations? |
- leading questions - responding to increased alertness of police - responding to increased interest of the interviewer. - children given rewards |
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Describe the Step Wise Program proposed by Dr. John Yuille. |
- interview - reduce trauma - increase quality and accuracy of info from child - maintain integrity of investigative process. - ask kids open ended questions without suggestive details |
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What has research by Ceci and Bruck (1993) found? |
- childrencan recall events accurately using proper questioning techniques
- challenge comes from determining what is truth and what is fabricated. |
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Describe free recall vs. directed questioning in terms of child witness interviews. |
- free recall gives accuracy close to that of an adult - but report little info, often need to use direct questioning - age impacts the effects of leading questions. - yes/no are particularly problematic for preschoolers due to more reliability of recognition than recall. - will say IDK more to wh- questions than yes/no when unanswerable - recall may be brief, but get more accuracy - how questions in regard to "how they felt" bring up most valuable info. |
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Describe the two theories as to why children are more suggestible than adults. |
1: Social Compliance - trust and want to cooperate with adult even if they don't understand. Infer desired responses. Hughes and Grieve showed this with illogical questions 2: Changes to the Cognitive System - children encode, store and retrieve information differently than adults. They may report on an event as if they were there. Misattribute the source of the memory. |
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What is suggested about these two methods? |
- likely a combination of both influencing memory. - need to balance free recall with risk of obtaining false info. but need to use free recall as much as possible |
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Describe the method of using an anatomically detailed doll to interview children. |
- will help if they cant verbalize what happened - helpful with younger kids, but gave more fantastic details with it. - sometimes this is not accurate - no specific guidelines for use or manufacturing of dolls. - cant assess child behaviour with dolls. |
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Describe the method of using Criterion-based content analysis to interview children. |
- Part of statement validity analysis (SVA)
- Attempts to distinguish between true andfabricated statements - Assumes difference in quality and content between truth and lie - Uses list of criteria - Some research indicates this protocol issuccessful (Parker& Brown, 2000) - Critics argues it is subjective, lacksstandardization and theoretical framework, interrater reliability. |
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Describe the 3 parts of SVA. |
1) structured interview with victim 2) systematic analysis of verbal content using CBCA 3) application of statement validity checklist |
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What are some criterion of CBCA? |
1. logical structure, coherent, 2. unstructured production 3. details. specific descriptions? 4. action connected to daily routine events? 5. interactions between victim and perpetrator? 6. unusual but meaningful details? 7. accurate detail but interpreted it incorrectly? 8. spontaneous corrections 9. admitting lack of memory of knowledge 10. did the child made excuses for or fail to blame perpetrator? |
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What is Step-Wise Interview? |
- Children are asked free recall questions,followed by more specific questions, as needed
- Procedure is consistent with what we knowabout how to interview children to elicit accurate information - Procedure commonly used in Canada |
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What are the steps in step-wise interview? |
1- rapport building 2- recall of two non abuse events 3- explanation of truth 4- intro to critical topic 5- free narrative 6- general questions 7- specific questions (if needed) 8- interview aids 9- conclude |
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What is the Narrative Elaboration? |
- Children organize stories into categories(e.g., participants, settings, actions, conversation, consequences.)
- Each category has a card to act as a cue - Children practice telling stories withthe cards prior to being asked about the critical event - Asking children to report acrosscategories increases information recalled |
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Describe NICHD. |
- Open-ended questioning with two types ofprompts (time or detail elaboration).
- Provides information on how to startinterview and introduce topic of abuse - Positive results have been obtained withthe use of this protocol - issues come up when multipart prompts are used. |
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Describe Cognitive interview with children. |
- Based on memory retrieval techniques(e.g., reinstating context, reporting everything, and recalling in differentorders)- Can be adapted for use with children- Children reported more accurateinformation compared to control conditions (Kohnken etal., 1999)
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What is False Memory Syndrome? |
- term to describe clients false beliefs that they were sexually abused as children, having no memories of this abuse until they enter therapy to deal with some other psychological problem such as depression or substance abuse. |
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What did Porter and brit discover in terms of traumatic memories being forgotten? |
- uni students asked to describe most traumatic and most positive experience. - found that the majority of participantswho reported abuse consciously forced the memory out of mind rather than nothaving any memory of it |
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What are 5 criteria suggested by Lindsay and Read (1995) when determining veracity of a recovered memory? |
1. age at time of abuse 2. techniques used to recover memory 3. similarity of reports across interview sessions 4. motivation for recall 5. time passed since abuse |
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Describe the case of R. v. Kliman (1998) |
- teacher accused of sexual abuse - girls remembered many years later - was convicted but later left off due to issues regarding memory - things also didnt add up as to how he could class for so long several times a week |
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What is Historic child sexual abuse? |
- allegations of child abuse having occurred several years, often decades, prior to when they are being prosecuted. |
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What are some common characteristics of HCSA? |
–Female complainant
–9-years-old when abuse started and12-years-old when it ended –Continuous memory of the abuse –Male relative abuser –23-years-older than victim –Repeated abuse |
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Describe Culprit descriptions. |
- Older children provide a greater numberof details than younger children - Exterior facial features (e.g., hair) aremore likely to be reported than interior facial features (e.g., nose) - Height, weight, and age are frequentlyreported, however accuracy is problematic for children and youth (and adults) |
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Describe Leichtman and Ceci study. |
- kids in control, stereotype, suggestion, or stereotype plus suggestion. - guy visited classroom - most accurate descriptions in control, with increasing false reports in each condition. |
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What is Eliminations lineup? |
- Lineup procedure for children that first asks them to pick out the person who looks most like the culprit from the photos displayed. Next asked whether the most similar person selected is in fact the culprit. - uses relative and absolute judgments - significantly reduces false positive responding. - in target absent lineups, social factors may influence |
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What is a competency inquiry? |
- Questions posed to child witnesses under the age of 14 to determine whether they were able to communicate the evidence and understand the difference between a truth and lie, and, in the circumstances of testifying, to see if they feel compelled to tell the truth. - used before 2006, when Bill C-2 came into affect where no questions are asked about understanding truth. |
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Describe some courtroom accommodations for children. |
- Screen/shield: screen that is put up infront of them so they don’t have to look at the perpetrator.
- Closed-circuit television: child is in anotherroom. - Support person: cant be closed courtroom. - Pre-recorded video testimony - Hearsay: that person said this. Admissable is ok. - Close courtroom to public/media |
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Describe the 4 other types of maltreatment for children. |
1. Physical abuse- deliberate application of force to childs body that results in injury. 2. Sexual abuse- using child for sexual purposes 3. neglect/failure to provide- do not provide needed attention to child emotional, psychological, or physical development 4. emotional - acts of omissions that cause serious behavioural, cognitive, emotional, or mental disorders. |
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Describe the term "in need of protection" |
A term used to describe a childs need to be separated from his or her caregiver because of maltreatment In Canada (excluding Yukon), children inneed of protection must be reported to authorities Prevalent categories; neglect, domesticviolence exposure, and physical abuse |
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What is Incidence? What is Prevalence? |
Incidence: number of new child maltreatment cases in a specific population occurring in a given time period, usually a year. Prevalence: In the study of child abuse, the proportion of a population at a specific point in time that was maltreated during childhood. |
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What are risk factors associated with child maltreatment? |
•a factor that increases the likelihood for emotional and/or behavioural problems.
- Beingmale •Youngmaternal age •Single-parentstatus •Historyof childhood physical abuse •Spousalassault •Unplannedpregnancy/negative attitude •Historyof substance abuse •Lowsocioeconomic status |
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What are some short term effects of physical abuse? |
- perceptual motor deficits - lower IQ functioning - lower academic achievement - externalizing behaviours - internalizing mental health difficulties - heavy drinking in teens and adulthood - victimization from peers/rejection |
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What are some long term effects of physical abuse? |
- non familial violence - abuse own children - dating violence - |
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What are risk factors of sexual abuse? |
- Being female
- Living in a family without a biologicalparent - Poor relationship between parents - Presence of a step-father - Poor child-parent relationship |
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What are some short term effects of sexual abuse? |
- Behaviour problems
- Lowered self-esteem - Inappropriate sexuality - Symptoms of consistent withpost-traumatic stress disorder - Physical difficulties (e.g., sleepdisturbance, eating disorders, stomach problems, and headaches) |
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What are the long term effects of sexual abuse? |
- Psychiatric disorders: depression
- Dysfunctional disorders: sexualized behaviour - Neurobiological dysregulation: reduced hippocampul volume |
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What is internet solicitation? |
- asking for sex over the internet - 1 in 5 youth - 2002 law prohibits sexualsolicitation of a minor over the internet - Canada’s commitment to a UnitedNations protocol on the rights of the child, signed by 105 countries in 2002 |
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Describe the case of R. v. Symes (2005) |
- priest talking to "underage girls" on the internet. - undercover cops - sent to jail |
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Describe "a caveat to the outcomes of child maltreatment". |
- not all kids will suffer negative outcomes - some who dont suffer maltreatment will suffer negative outcomes - no one factor in childhood can predict outcomes in adulthood with absolute accuracy. |
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What is the different between criminal and civil cases? |
- Criminal: act found in Criminal Code of Canada - Civil: breach of contract or other claims. - both can have just judge or judge and jury, but process jury selection, and rules are quite different. |
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Describe some specific differences of criminal and civil cases? |
Criminal: 12 jurers. will be focusing on this. Civil: 6-8 jurers, |
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Describe the 3 types of offences in Canada. |
1. Summary offences: <6 months in prison and a fine <2000$. Sometimes up to 18 months in prison. No right to jury trial. 2. Indictable offences: Three categories (next card) 3. Hyrbrid offences: a cross between offences above. Crown attorney decides if to proceed by indictable or summary. |
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Describe the 3 types of Indictable offences. |
1. JUDGE ONLY: less serious. include theft (other than theft of cattle), fraud, failure to comply with probation order. 2. JUDGE AND JURY: highly serious. treason, murder, piracy. CAN proceed with judge only if attorney general and accused agree. 3. CHOICE of accused. include robbery, sexual assault with a weapon, arson. Has 3 choices. (1) prov judge, no jury, no pre lim inquiry. (2) pre lim inquiry, judge. (3) pre lim inquiry, judge and jury. if no choice is made, automatically #3. |
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What is the Juries Act? |
Provincial and territorial legislation that outlines the eligibility criteria for jury service and how prospective jurors must be selected. I.e., age, jobs. |
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What is a jury summons? |
A court order that states a time and place to go for jury duty. If you ignore, could get jail or fine. |
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Why might someone not be able to be a juror? |
- say they cant - lawyer presents a challenge saying either (1) peremptory challenge: reject who they think will not reach a verdict on their side. no reason needed but limited to 20 in murder trials, 12 for all other. (2) challenge for cause: must give reason for rejection |
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What information about potential jurors do lawyers have? |
name, address, occupation, physical demeanour. cant ask them questions. |
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What are the 2 responsibilities of Juries in Canada? |
1. Representativeness: a jury composition that represents the community where the crime occurred 2. Impartiality: a characteristic of jurors who are unbiased. |
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Further explain Representativeness. |
- must allow any possible elligible person from the community to be part of the jury. - randomness - phone book or voter info - could argue this isnt a true pool, as some people, such as homeless, are not found in these places. - R. v. Nepoose: aboriginal women. challenged for having too few women in jury. - R. v. Brown: abooriginal males assulted ab. girl. all white people on jury. biased/racist trial. |
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Further explain Impartiality. |
- Three issues 1. must set aside pre-existing biases, prejudices, or attitudes and judge based on admissible evidence. 2. must ignore certain evidence such as media attention. 3. must have no connection to the defendent. |
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What are some threats to impartiality? |
1. is it possible to forget emotionally charged news headlines? Steblay et al., increase in exposure to this results in increase of guilty verdicts. works same with positive. 2. Emotions that pretrial publicityraises are remembered, while factual information tends to be forgotten - R. v. Guess - girl in jury and guy on trial in relationship. found not guilty. girls impartiality was compromised. |
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How can impartiality be increased? |
- Pre lim hearing is not open to public. 1) Change of venue: moving a crime to a community other than the one in which the crime occurred. Possible with small towns, awful crimes, lots of publicity. The party requesting the issue mustdemonstrate a reasonable likelihood that the community is biased or prejudicedagainst the defendant 2) Adjournment: delaying the trial untill sometime in the future. allows bias to fade. memories can fade, witnesses can die. 3) Challenge for cause: option to reject biased jurors. can ask questions about state of mind or thinking. Potentialjurors may provide dishonest answers,either intentionally or unintentionally |
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Describe how challenge of cause works. |
- two individuals are selected from jury pool and sworn to act as triers. - a third person is selected from jury pool. triers listen and discuss to answer and decide if good or not. - if person is not impartial, they are dismissed, another is in. and process begins again. - if they are impartial. this person replaces one of the triers. - goes on untill 12 are chosen. - R. v. McLeod. jamaican men, used challenge. - Robert pickton |
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What are the 4 functions of the jury? |
MAIN - apply the law as provided by the judge, to admissible evidence to render verdict. 1) to use the wisdom 12 (rather than 1) to reach a verdict. 2) to act as the conscious of the community. 3) to protect against out of date laws 4) to increase knowledge about the justice system. |
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What is jury nullification? |
Occurs when a jury ignores the law and the evidence, rendering a verdict based on some other criteria. Ex. unfair given circimstances, punishment is too harsh for crime. Often when controversial topics are at play such as euthanasia or abortion. |
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What is Chaos theory? |
The theory that when jurors are guided by their emotions and personal biases rather than by the law, chaos in judgements results. Nullification instructions may influence jury decision making producing both socially favourably and socially unfavourably verdicts (Meissner, et al., 2003) Horowitz found this too. |
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What are the 4 methodologies used to study jury and juror behaviour? |
1) Post trial interviews 2) Archives 3) Simulation 4) Field Studies |
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Further describe post trial interviews. |
- When you ask a juror after a trial why they made a decision - not allowed in Canada - high external validity - many weaknesses: 1) reliability of accounts: innacurate recall, forget details, dont know why they made the decision 2) cannot determine cause and effect |
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Further describe Archives. |
- records - external validity is high. - cant determine cause and effect - limited in questions that can be researched. - Nocontrol over biases that may have influenced record - dont know how it was collected. |
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Further describe simulation. |
- simulate a trial - Mock jurors are presented withfictitious trial transcript to render verdict and make other judgements - Factors of interest can bemanipulated - high internal validity: can test cause and effect - Limitations:–Generalizabilityto real world is questionable |
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Further describe field studies. |
- Research conducted within a realtrial
- High external validity - Limitations:–Permissionfrom the courts may be difficult–Variablesof interest cannot be controlled |
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What is a deliberation? |
When the jury members discuss the evidence privately among themselves to reach a verdict that is then provided to the court |
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What are 2 allowed juror compensation aids? |
Note taking Asking questions. |
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Further explain note taking. |
Judges may allow jurors to takenotes while listening to evidence
May help jurors by increasingmemory and understanding of the evidence, and increasing attention |
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Further explain Asking questions. |
- Jurors may be allowed to askwitnesses questions via the judge
- Research found that while jurors’questions are appropriate and promote clearer understanding, they do not helpget to the truth (Penrod& Heuer,1997) - must submit prior, cannot intterupt - often ask about legal terminology |
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Are jurors able to forget inadmissible evidence? |
- During trials, lawyers or witnessesmay make inadmissible statements that juries will be instructed to disregard
- Jurors will disregard evidence whenthey are provided with a logical and legitimate reason for the judge’s decision(Kassin& Sommers,1997) - Back fire effect: instruction to diregard makes it more memorable. |
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What is the CSI effect? |
- jurors are more likely to convict a suspect if the procedures and techniques from television are used in real life. |
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Do jurors understand judge's instructions? |
- Jurors do not remember, understand,or accurately apply judicial instructions (Lieberman & Sales, 1997)
- Reforms for judges’ instructions: 1) Rewritinginstructions2) Writtencopy of instructions 3) Pre-and post-evidence instructions 4) Lawyersclarifying instructions |
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What are two models on how Jury's come to a decision? |
1) Mathematical Models: Jury decision making is a set ofmental calculations•A mathematical weight is assignedto each piece of evidence (Hastie, 1993)•Research indicates jurors do notput a value to each piece of evidence (Ellsworth& Mauro, 1998) 2) Explanation Models: Evidence is organized into acoherent whole•Story model: A story structure isimposed on the evidence•Research indicates that this ismore consistent with how jurors make their decisions (Pennington& Hastie, 1988). affected by individual differeces as it affects story production proccess. |
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What is Polarization? |
When individuals tend to become more extreme in their initial position following group discussion. |
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What is Leniency bias? |
When jurors move towards greater leniency during deliberations. |
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What is a Hung Jury? |
a jury that cannot reach a unanimous verdict. must be unanimous to reach a verdict. |
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What are the 6 variables used to study prediction of a verdict? |
1) Demographic 2) Personality Traits 3) Attitudes 4) Defedant Characteristics 5) Victim Characteristics 6) Expert testimony |
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Describe demographic variables. |
- Variables include; gender, race,socioeconomic status, education of jurors
- A small inconsistent relationexists between juror demographic variables and jury verdicts (Bonazzoli,1998) - Racial bias: the disparate treatment of racial out-group - Black sheep effect: When evidence is strong, similarity between defendant and jury leads punitiveness. |
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Describe Personality traits. |
- Authoritarianism and dogmatism (without political overtones):Being high on these traits are associated with rigid thinking, and acquiescingto authority
- Moderate, positive relationshipbetween authoritarianism and verdict (Narby et al., 1993) - extroverted - higher moral reasoning - conciouentiousness - easily persuaded. - CEST - Rational and Experiential processors. R more suseptable to extralegal factors. |
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Describe attitudes. |
- Nogroup of attitudes or values has received sufficient investigation (Devine etal., 2001) exception is capital punishment
- Death-qualifiedjurors more likely than non-death-qualified jurors to vote for conviction(Ellsworth & Mauro, 1998) - Casespecific attitudes have more predictive power over verdict than generalattitudes |
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Describe the defendants characteristics on verdicts. |
- Small relationship betweenattractiveness of the defendant and jury verdict
- Defendant characteristics often areexamined in relation to other characteristics such as victim characteristics |
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Describe Victim characteristics on verdicts. |
- Particularlyrelevant in sexual assault case - Rapeshield provisions; may allow some inquiry into a woman’s sexual history at the judge’s discretion - Onusis on the defendant to demonstrate that the accuser’s sexual history is relevant before it isallowed. said he thought it was consensual as he had sex with her before. (R.v. Darrach,2002) |
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Describe Expert testimony on verdict prediction. |
- Experts may be called to explainscientific information or information requiring a certain expertise
- A number of factors may interactwith expert testimony such as gender of the expert and complexity of thetestimony - Schuller: battered women killing abusers. more likely to beleive the womeans account if there was an expert testimony. |
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What are two elements that must be present for criminal guilt to be established? |
Actus reus: a wrongful deed Mens rea: criminal intent both must be found beyond a reasonable doubt for a guilty verdict to be reached. |
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Describe fit and unfit defendants. |
- Fitdefendants:•Understand thecharges and proceedings •Help prepare their defence
- unfit to stand trial: refers to an inability to conduct a defence at any stage of the proceedings on account of a person's mental disorder - R. v. Balliram: unfit could not be sentenced. |
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Why was the R. v. Prichard case important? |
- Key cases for the fitness standard - whether the defendant is... 1) mute of malice (willfully chooses not to speak) 2) can plead to indictment (plead guilty) 3) has sufficient cognitive capacity to understand the trial proceedings. |
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What is the new fitness standard? |
- unfitto stand trial if unable to:
•Understand nature or object ofproceedings•Understand possible consequences ofthe proceedings •Communicate with counsel |
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What were some changes to the fitness standard? |
•R. v.Taylor (1992) specified the “best interest rule” wastoo strict a criterion
•Five-day limit for fitnessevaluations with provisions, extended if necessary •Issue of fitness may be raised atvarious stages (time charges are laid, beginning of trial, and at sentencing) . |
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How prevalent are fitness evaluations? |
•5000 fitness evaluations/year inCanada
•2% - 8% ofcriminal cases in the United States •Only medical practitioners canprovide advice to the courts – this is an issue as they do nothave as much training as a psychologists. |
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What are some instruments used to assess fitness to stand trial? |
•FitnessInterview Test Revised (FIT-R): interview that assess the three abilities. 3 pt scale.- Meet requirements of C-30
•The Final Decision - Existence of Mental Disorder? - FIT-R score - - Previous information •Competency ScreeningTest (CST): 22 uncompleted sentences. •Competency to Stand TrialAssessment Instrument (CAI): interview. 13 functions. •Interdisciplinary Fitness Interview(IFI): interview, 4 sections. MacArthurCompetence Assessment Tool-Criminal Adjudication (MACCAT-CA): interview 22 items assessing three areas. |
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What are some characteristics of unfit defendants? |
Zapf and Rpesch (1998) •Unemployed and living alone•Never married •Older minority-group females withfewer marital resources •4X more likely to meet criteriafor psychoticdisorder •Less likely to have substance abuseproblems |
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How is Fitness restored? |
•Proceedingshalteduntil fit
•Reassessedwithin 45 days in Canada •Attemptto restore defendant to fitness•Mostcommon method = medication •Ifunlikely to become fit, court can stay proceedingsaccording to Bill C-10 - Starson v. Swayze (1999): physics guy. uttered death threats to neighbours. had mental disorder = not criminally responsible. wouldnt take meds. |
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Jackson v. Indiana |
defendant should not be held for more than a resoanable period of time to determine whether there is a likelihood of the person gaining competency. Prima facie case: case in which the crown prosecutor must prove there is sufficient evidence to bring case to trial |
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What is Bill C-10? |
•Stayproceedings if:
1) Accusedis unlikely to ever become fit:they have a long term mental disorder, low IQ. Unlikely to ever become fit. 2) Accuseddoes not pose a significant threat to safety of the public 3) Itis in the interests of the proper administrationof justice: mental defect/insanity |
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What is Insanity? |
- Impairment of mental or emotional functioning that affects perceptions, beliefs, and motivations at the time of offence. not being of sound mind, and being mentally deranged and irrational. - Legally, insanityremoves the responsibility of performing an act because of uncontrollableimpulses or delusions |
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What was the Criminal Lunatics Act? |
James Hadfield attempted to assasinate teh king was out of touch with reality |
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What are 3 elements relative to insanity defences from the McNaughton (shot PM) verdict? |
1) Defendantmust be suffering from a defect of reason/disease of the mind
2) Mustnot know the nature and quality of act he/sheis performing 3) Mustnot know that what he/she is doing is wrong |
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What were some legislative changes made in 1992 to the insanity defence? |
•Bill C-30 (1992) made changes toinsanity legislation: 1) Insanity changed to “notcriminally responsible on account of mental disorder” (NCRMD) 2) Wording of the standard altered 3)Review boards created
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What are review boards? |
Legal bodies mandated to oversee the care and disposition of defendants found unfit and/or criminally responsible on account of a mental disorder. |
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What was one further change made in 1999? |
•Winkov. British Columbia(1999)
- NCRMD defendant should only bedetained if they pose a threat to society • If not = absolute discharge. drop charges, but background check will show. |
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Raising the issue of insanity. |
•Few defendants use the insanitydefense•Approximately 25% succeed
•In Canada, Crown can only raiseinsanity: 1) Following a guilty verdict 2) If defencestates the defendant has a mental illness |
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How is insanity assessed? |
- psychiatric assessment - R-CRAS: first and only type of instrument. - looks at 1) patient reliability: how reliable are they as a descriptor of their own issues. 2) Organicity: does it have an organic cause 3) psychopathology: what mental illnesses do they have 4) Cognitive control: are their thoughts connected 5) behavioural control: are they impulsive or emotional? |
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What happens to a defendant found NCRMD? |
DISPOSITIONS: made by court or review board 1) absolute discharge: not a threat to society and poses a low risk of reoffending. released to community without restrictions on their behaviour. 2) Conditional discharge: released but must meet certain restrictions, i.e., cant drink. 3) Psychiatric facility Review board must look over within 90 days, unless absolute discharge. |
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What is Capping? |
Notion introduced by Bill C-30 where tehre is a maximum period of time a person with a mental illness could be affected by his or her disposition. |
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What are 4 factors that go into choosing a disposition? |
1) public safety 2) mental state of defendant 3) Reintegration of defendant into society 4) other needs of the defendant |
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Describe the case of Jefrey Dahmer. |
•Trialin 1992•Killedand dismembered •17young men•Over10 year period•Cannibalism•Retainedbody parts•Pre-and post-mortem sexual activity•Expertwitnesses brought in to assess insanity
Defence•Necrophilia•Overpowering•Cravings•Distortedfantasies•Lackof control•Psychotic-like•Psychotic Prosecution•Controland caution•Efficientdisposal•Planneddisposal•Lackof activity: lack of psychotic behaviours•Fooledpolice:when the guy escaped. •Alcoholdependence•Paraphilia |
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What is Automatism? |
- Unconscious, involuntary behaviour such that the person committing the act is not aware of what they are doing - R. v.Stone (1999): Twoforms of automatism: 1) Noninsane –external factorthat are responsible. (Kenneth Parks, sleep walking) 2) Insane –mental disorderthat makes them unaware of what they are doing. |
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Who was Rem Guitarist? |
•Attacked British Airways Staff•Common Assault & Damaging BAproperty•Non-insane automatism•Sleeping Pill & Alcohol•••Cleared of all charges!
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How does judge decide about automatism? |
1.Judgedecides whether behaviour wasinvoluntary
2.Judgedecides if condition is a mental disorder (insane) or sane automatism Look at: psych assessments, severity of triggering event, and history or automatic behaviour. |
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What are the defences of noninsane automatism? |
•Aphysical blow•Stroke•HypoglycemiaLlow blood sugar•Carbonmonoxide poisoning•Sleepwalking•Involuntaryintoxication:drugged or didn’trealize an drug interactions.•Psychologicalblow:trauma, you dissociate and don’tremember.
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What are some differences between NCRMD and automatism? |
•Verdictoutcome differs:
- NCRMDverdict = mental health facility - Noninsaneautomatism = not guilty verdict - Insaneautomatism=NCRMDverdict |
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What is Bill C-72? |
Intoxicationisnot recognized as a defenseforviolent crimes
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Why are their such high rates of mental illness in offender populations? |
1) Morelikely are arrested
2) Lessadept at committing crime 3) Morelikely to plead guilty |
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What options do police have when dealing with offenders who are mentally ill? |
1) Take them to emergency: mental health system 2) arrest them: criminal justice system Thosewith major mental illness are not more likely to commit future crimes,especially violent crime |
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What are the goals of treatment for mentally ill? |
•Symptomreduction
•Decreasedlength of stay in the facility •Nore-admittance to hospital OVERALL: reintegration into society •Facilitiesfor treatment include: 1)Psychiatricinstitutions, hospitals, and assisted housing units••Twokey treatment options for psychotic symptoms: 1) Anti-psychoticdrugs 2) Behaviourtherapy:deal with solutions, realize what is real and not real. |
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What is a community treatment order? |
Sentence that allows mentally ill offender to live in the community, with the stipulation that the person will agree to treatment or detention in the event that their condition deteriorates. |
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What is Diversion? |
A decision not to prosecute, but rather have them undergo an educational or community service program. also an option for the courts dealing with offenders with mental illness who are facing minor charges. The court can divert the offender directly into a treatment program rather than have him or her go through the court process. |
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What are the aspects to mental health courts? |
1) divert 2) facilitate fitness 3) ensure treatment 4) decrease repeat offender cycle. data supports this method. |
