The concept of insanity.Now that we

The concept of insanity.
Now that we have closely examined the term abnormal behavior, let's turn to the concept of insanity. what does it mean to be insane? it is important to understand that insanity is not a psychological term but a legal term that refers to rare and unusual conditions. insanity has three different legal meanings, depending on the circumstances:
1. Not guilty by reason of insanity. In many states, individuals cannot be convicted of a crime if they were legally “insane” at the time the crime was committed. The most influential definition of insanity was proposed by the american law institute in the 1970s. It states: “ a person is not responsible for criminal conduct if at the time of such conduct, as a result of mental disease or defect, he lacks substantial capacity either to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law. “this definition means that people committing crimes are considered “not guilty by reason of insanity” if they could not tell right from wrong or could not control their actions at the time of the crime because of serious psychological problems. Generally, juries will consider only persons with severe psychotic or severe mental retardation to be insane. Because individuals with these problems rarely commit crimes, it’s rarely a successful legal defense. Juries in a number of states can now find defendants “ guilty but mentally ill.” In this case, the person receives a prison sentence but is also given mental health treatment.
2. Competence to stand trial. The term insanity is also used in hearings to determine whether the individuals are competent to stand trial. In this sense, the question is whether the persons are able to understand the proceedings of the trial sufficiently to aid in their own defense. Again, it’s primarily persons with severe psychosis and mental retardation who are considered incompetent in this sense.
3. Involuntary commitment. A third meaning of the term insanity arises in hearings on the involuntary commitment of individuals to mental institutions. It’s legal in most states to commit people to an instittution against their will if a court finds them to be insane. The courts generally interpret this as meaning that the individuals are a direct danger usually meaning a psysical danger to themselves or to others.
insanity a legal definition concerning a person’s inability to tell right from wrong, ability to understand the trial proceedings, or whether the person is a direct danger to self or others.
Jhon hinckley, jr., was found not guilty (by reason of insanity) of his attempted assassination of president ronald reagan.