Judging Insanity, Punishing Difference: A History of Mental Illness in the Criminal Court

Chloé Deambrogio's book "Judging Insanity, Punishing Difference" explores how forensic psychiatry shaped American courts' assessments of defendants' mental health and criminal responsibility over the twentieth century, using Texas as a case study. She shows how medical, legal, and cultural trends influenced psycho-legal debates and trial verdicts in capital cases, maintaining a punitive approach towards defendants with severe mental disabilities.

Format: Hardback
Length: 300 pages
Publication date: 14 November 2023
Publisher: Stanford University Press

In her book "Judging Insanity, Punishing Difference," Chloé Deambrogio delves into the intricate relationship between developments in forensic psychiatry and the way American courts assessed defendants' mental health and criminal responsibility throughout the twentieth century. During this transformative period, new psychiatric understandings of the mind and its complexities, legal doctrines of insanity and diminished culpability, and cultural stereotypes about race and gender profoundly influenced the way legal professionals, mental health experts, and lay witnesses approached mental disability evidence, particularly in cases involving the death penalty.

To explore this dynamic, Deambrogio takes a case study approach, focusing on Texas. Through meticulous analysis, she uncovers how these medical, legal, and cultural trends shaped psycho-legal debates in state criminal courts. She also sheds light on the ways in which experts and lay actors interpreted pathological mental states, ultimately influencing trial verdicts in capital cases.

What emerges from Deambrogio's study is a nuanced understanding of the complex interplay between medical expertise, legal principles, and cultural biases. She demonstrates that, despite mounting pressures from advocates of rehabilitative penology, Texas courts maintained a punitive approach towards defendants allegedly affected by severe mental disabilities. However, she also shows how moralized views about personalities, habits, and lifestyle could influence psycho-legal assessments, potentially leading to prejudicial outcomes.

This book is a valuable contribution to the field of legal psychology, shedding light on the ways in which mental health evidence is interpreted and used in the legal system. It raises important questions about the role of experts, the fairness of the justice system, and the impact of cultural stereotypes on the assessment of mental disability. "Judging Insanity, Punishing Difference" is a must-read for anyone interested in understanding the complexities of the intersection between psychiatry, law, and society.

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781503630321