Does the Insanity Defence lead to an Abuse of Human Rights?
Journal Article
2012
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African Journal of Psychiatry
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University of Cape Town
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Abstract
Every day convicted murderers, rapists, and other violent offenders are released by the prisons into the community. Most have not even completed their sentences, as they earned remittances for good behaviour. No one seems to worry that statistically many of these former prisoners remain dangerous, and will probably harm others sometime in the future. 1 In fact, there are criminologists who argue persuasively that fewer offenders should be imprisoned, for the good of their families and communities. This may reflect the confusion about what the actual purpose of imprisonment is, ranging from urges for retribution to achieving rehabilitation. Nevertheless, we are satisfied that when an offender ‘has repaid his debt to society’ he is free to re-enter ordinary life, albeit for a while under the sometimes wavering, watchful supervision of a parole officer.
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Reference:
Kaliski, S. (2012). Does the insanity defence lead to an abuse of human rights?. African journal of psychiatry, 15(2), 83-87.