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Articles » The Psychological Profiles of Killers
Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity?
Geanina Hent
In reality, being found not guilty by reason of insanity is fairly a rare occurrence. There are not many juries that will go for that excuse so willingly. More common is the 'temporary' insanity defense. It is this way because temporary losses of one's senses are more likely to occur. However, a situation in which a person is driven by a completely unstoppable rage is also unlikely to happen. Under the law today, a person is eligible for trail if he/she is able to understand his position and to participate rationally and adequately in his defense. This meaning that he is competent.
To determine whether one is legally insane (or was temporarily insane), the behaviorist scientist is asked to testify whether or not the accused knew that was he was doing was wrong. It is the job of the forensic physiologist to determine this through psychological testing.
The insanity defense is usually used with a person having a profound mental illness (e.g., extremely acute schizophrenia). In this instance you have an individual who either does not know that what they are doing is wrong or they are not even conscious of their actions.
But even when a person is temporarily insane, this defense ticket to freedom that everyone thinks it does. A forensic psychiatric setting is not much different from a prison. The individual is still institutionalized. Their freedom has been removed and they have to stay in the hospital as if they were in prison. In this type of setting they can become rehabilitated.
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