e later nicknamed "super males." Common traits of a "supermale" are facial acne, unusual tallness, mental dullness, and conviction of violent crimes. The chromosome murderer" was eventually convicted of murder (3). The behavioralperspective says that behavior is learned through exposure to the environment (5). Anexample of this would be childhood physical or sexual abuse. On the Ohio State campusin 1978, a man named William kidnapped, robbed, and raped four college girls. Upon hiscapture, it was discovered that he possessed ten different personalities. Eight of thepersonalities were male and two were female. Billy was the dominant personality. Duringa psychiatric evaluation, the doctor learned that William had been sexually abused as achild. To escape the abuse he would go into a "psychological coma." In other words, heslept through the abuse. He also claims to have slept through the crimes he committed. At his trial, William was found NGRI because of his multiple personality (dissociative)disorder (8). Society seems to hold many misconceptions about the insanity defense. First of all,people seem to believe that the defense is commonly used. As stated before, the defense isonly used less than one percent of the time. The public also seems to have grown wearyof criminals who play the victim, and claim to have suffered some hardship that madethem vulnerable to committing crime (7). A second myth is that legally insane criminalsare not punished because they are not held legally responsible for their actions. The truthis that confinement in a mental institution is not much different from being sent to prison. Neither institution is pleasant, and both places have people being held against their will. A third misconception is that psychiatrists can precisely determine mental stability. In theend, only the criminal knows what was really going on inside of his or her head during thecrime. The fourth myth concerns the fal...
