Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer was widely held to suffer from paranoid schizophrenia but his bid for a not-guilty-by-reason-of-insanity verdict failed. Essentially, the jury accepted that he was schizophrenic but that he was still culpable (responsible) for his behavior. Does this make sense to you? Why or why not? How can somebody be schizophrenic and in sufficient command of their mental capacities to be culpable for their actions?  Should anyone who is schizophrenic have an automatic pass to NGRI out of criminal offenses? Consider the difference in the definition of "insanity" as spelled out in the law compared with psychiatric definitions.

Ciccarelli: Psychology_5 (5th Edition)
5th Edition
ISBN:9780134477961
Author:Saundra K. Ciccarelli, J. Noland White
Publisher:Saundra K. Ciccarelli, J. Noland White
Chapter1: The Science Of Psychology
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Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer was widely held to suffer from paranoid schizophrenia but his bid for a not-guilty-by-reason-of-insanity verdict failed. Essentially, the jury accepted that he was schizophrenic but that he was still culpable (responsible) for his behavior. Does this make sense to you? Why or why not?

How can somebody be schizophrenic and in sufficient command of their mental capacities to be culpable for their actions?  Should anyone who is schizophrenic have an automatic pass to NGRI out of criminal offenses? Consider the difference in the definition of "insanity" as spelled out in the law compared with psychiatric definitions.  

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