The Problem of Mental Disorder in Crime

One of the consequences of the law\u27s acceptance of the lay notionthat most people are free rational agents is the tacit assumption that exceptin clearly recognizable cases of marked dementia, all people are thesame and should be treated alike. No middle zone is recognized. Thisapproach to the problem of anti-social behavior is, of course, completelyopposed to the present trend of thought. To the criminologist mentalabnormality is an extremely broad concept; and is merely one of thefactors to be considered in determining in individual cases why an offenderoffended and what method of treatment would be most effectivein protecting society against a repetition of such behavior. But the lawcould not adopt such a view and still continue to exist as it is classicallyenvisaged. Law is general; rules are framed in advance and are appliedto all equally. An inquiry into the causes of behavior for the purposeof determining a legal result would make each case unique. Therecould be no law