When someone commits a crime, he or she may use mental illness as a defense. This iscalled an insanity plea or insanity defense. What the insanity defense does is try to givethe alleged perpetrator a fair trial. At least in extreme cases, society agrees with thisprinciple. The problem is where do we draw the line. Under what circumstances is aperson considered insane, and when are they not? The trouble with the insanity defense inrecent years is the assumption that virtually all criminals have some sort of mentalproblem. One important point is that the crime itself, no matter how appalling, does notdemonstrate insanity. Today, the insanity defense has become a major issue within thelegal system. If the defendant is clearly out of touch with reality, the police and districtattorney ordinarily agree to bypass the trial and let the defendant enter a mental hospital. On the other hand, if the defendant has no serious signs of mental illness, the defenseattorneys will not attempt an insanity defense. This is because they know that juries arereluctant to accept it. Basically, the only way for a lawyer to prove his clients insanity isto try to project what his client was thinking (or not thinking) at the time that the crimewas committed. This is usually done by enlisting the testimonies of a psychologists orpsychiatrists, who are known as expert witnesses. Both legal and mental health professionals have long struggled to establish a clear andacceptable definition of insanity. Insanity is a legal term, not a psychological or medicalone. The Sarasons prefer to use the term maladaptive behavior instead of insane orinsanity. Maladaptive behavior is, behavior that deals inadequately with a situation,especially one that is stressful (5). Adaptation is the way people balance what they doand want to do, and what the environment/community requires of them. Successfuladaptation depends on a persons stress (situations that impos...
