Automatism, as a defense relates to a defendant's mental state. Automatism negates criminal responsibility by describing behavior that occurs when an individual is unaware and unconscious of the acts occurring (DeFreitas, & Hucker, 2015). Their actions or behavior are, therefore, not voluntary, and they have no intention of committing the act ( McKenna, 2019 ). Insane automatism is described as automatism that is caused by conditions arising in defendants’ mind (DeFreitas, & Hucker, 2015). non-insane automatism is described as that which occurs due to factors outside of the accused’s mind ( Pobocha, 2019 . This defense is not usually used as a criminal defense. However, if it used successfully, the accused can be acquitted of the charges, and they will no longer be under the mercy of the mental health systems or criminal justice systems .
The prosecution is supposed to prove beyond any doubt that the indicted fulfilled the necessary mens rea to commit the delinquency. As such, the responsibility of forensic psychology regarding automatism is to help the prosecution of criminal cases or assist the defense in civil commitment proceedings (Dixon n.d.). The discipline, therefore, supports the trial by making a case for them by focusing on the mental state of the accused. It also serves to enable the reintegration of offenders once they are in the prison system (Dixon n.d.). This is done by establishing the cause of criminal behavior to know how best to approach it.
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Article 1
Summary
In the article, the authors explain the precise circumstances in which the courts can correctly and humanely acquit a defendant that committed an involuntary act under a defect of the reason (McLeod, Byrne, & Aitken, 2004). The authors look at the issue of dissociation that stems from amnesia when one undergoes traumatic experiences such as rape (McLeod, Byrne, & Aitken, 2004). Dissociation causes individuals to lose control of their conduct and may even end up committing violent acts. Legal contexts are aware of dissociation and the impact it has on an individual. When arguing a case, a defendant may claim that their actions were unintentional because they had no control over them as they dissociated which may result in them being acquitted if it is proven beyond reasonable doubt (McLeod, Byrne, & Aitken, 2004). Defendants that use this defense often receive treatment rather than punishment which may have a little remedial effect on them.
References
In the article, the author uses secondary sources. Secondary sources provide an interpretation of primary sources. The author uses journal articles that address the topic. Secondary sources are considered to be persuasive
Research
The article contained research. The authors of the article used both qualitative and quantitative research design in the study. They used document analysis and questionnaires from peer-reviewed journal and questionnaires, respectively.
Data
The authors used peer-reviewed documents and questionnaires as the sources of information for the study. They collected data through reviewing documents to find which had the information relevant to their topic. They also administered questionnaires to the participants
Conclusions
The authors explain the precise circumstances in which the courts can correctly and humanely acquit a defendant that committed an involuntary act under a defect of reason. The authors agree that although automatism is accepted as a legal defense, there is a need for further research on the circumstances leading to automatism as a legal defense.
Reliable and Valid
The article is valid and dependable. It makes use of secondary sources to inform the topic. Most secondary sources are persuasive thus ensure those reading them agree with their point. However, for this article, the authors ensured they were articles from peer-reviewed journals, thus establishing the article's credibility
Thoughtful and reflective
The article is thoughtful and reflective. It is the first of its kind, thus opening the way for a better analysis on the topic and facilitating the relevant discussion on the same.
Limitations
Although the article is informative and well written, it is limited as the authors acknowledge it to be the first published study on the topic with regards to Australian prisoners. It is also subject to distortion as the subject's self-report on instances they dissociated.
Article 2
Summary
In this article, the authors look at the internationalization of forensic assessments of criminal behavior. They argue that among all the characteristics of current medicine, its international endeavor stands out most making it a core strength (Meynen, & Oei, 2011). The authors explain that local issues in medicine are likely to impact the universal nature of medicine. As such, the authors look at criminal law as a local factor that affects medicine and its universal nature (Meynen, & Oei, 2011). Criminal law impacts the internationalization of the assessment of a defendant within the question of criminal responsibility. Each country has a unique law that relates to the evaluation of criminal responsibility (Meynen, & Oei, 2011). Forensic psychiatrists are thus faced with the challenge of building a common framework or finding common ground to advance the practice of the assessments (Meynen, & Oei, 2011). Internationalization of forensic evaluations of criminal responsibility is a necessity but will take time to be realized.
References
In the article, the author uses secondary sources. Secondary sources provide an interpretation of primary sources. The author uses journal articles that address the topic. Secondary sources are considered to be persuasive.
Research
The article used a qualitative research design. The authors' used document analysis in the study. This was aimed at giving a voice to the journal articles and informing the assessment topic.
Data
The authors used peer-reviewed documents as the source of data for the study. They collected data through reviewing documents to find which had the information relevant to their topic.
Conclusions
The authors agree that the standardizing the assessment will result in a global understanding and assessment of criminal law and psychiatry aspects. The authors recommend that transcending the legal bounds will be beneficial to the forensic psychiatric research and assessments to internationalize it and make it more evidence-based
Reliable and Valid
The author's article is both reliable and valid. Although they used secondary sources, they ensured they were articles from peer-reviewed journals, thus establishing the article's credibility.
Thoughtful and reflective
The article is thoughtful and reflective as it looks at how the global phenomena of medicine is impacted by common law. The authors highlight the need to have a standard by which every country adheres to facilitate effective rulings of cases that involve the issue of automatism. The article is well written, and the evidence used supports the authors' rationale.
Limitations
The article is informative, makes use of scholarly sources and well written. However, it is limited in that there is little if any prior research studies on the topic. As such, the authors suggest the standardization of assessments which could bring about more research on the same.
Article 3
Summary
The article looks into the power of self-control in Automatism and provocation. The author explains that the High Court ruling in 1990 was keen on the ability of an individual to maintain their self-control when under external pressure that causes them rage (Yeo, 1992). In Stingel v Queen the high court removed the matter of provocation from the panel while in R v Falconer , during the retrial, judges decided that sane automatism could result from unusual mental stress although they were divided on the onus of proof (Yeo, 1992). The author explains that both cases arise from code jurisdictions. The High Court stipulated the objective test in the discussion was a provocation and psychological blow automatism that are parts of the common law (Yeo, 1992). The author, therefore, explains that the high court's ruling on both cases was adopted from previous authorities' approach on similar matters.
References
In the article, the author uses primary sources. The author uses cases and case laws resulting from the cases discussed to address the topic. Primary sources are considered to be authoritative.
Research
The author used both empirical and normative legal research when writing the article. Legal research is used when addressing legal questions or checking for legal precedent to be cited in trial or a brief. Here he sought to find the answer to the legal question on the power of self-control in automatism and provocation.
Data
The author used empirical and normative data when writing the article. This data was acquired from previous cases on the matter of provocation, self-control and automatism. The author used library research as a means of data collection to inform the study.
Conclusions
The author concludes that the pronouncements of both cases were by no means radical as previously such declarations had been made. The subject matter can be complicated, thus the need for learned thinking when dealing with such circumstances. The author explains that objective tests need to be applied to other defenses like necessity and duress while also suggesting that ethnicity be considered as a qualification of the quality of self-control that one exhibits.
Reliable and Valid
The article is valid and dependable as it uses primary sources to inform the topic. Primary sources are authoritative and reliable, making the article credible.
Thoughtful and reflective
The article is thoughtful and reflective as it looks at the rulings and how they are applied to similar issues. The author of the article uses evidence to support his rationale, thus making them appear well written.
Limitations
Although the article was informative and well written, there was evidence of selection bias. The data used from the case laws in the article appear to be skewed to propagate the realization of the author’s view.
References
DeFreitas, K. D., & Hucker, S. J. (2015). Forensic Psychiatry and Forensic Psychology: Criminal Responsibility .
Dixon, F. (n.d.). Psychology in the courtroom Retrieved from http://www.nwforensicpsychology.com/wordpress/articles-media/paperspublications
McKenna, B. J. (2019). Automatism: A Complete Yet Imperfect Defense. Mil. L. Rev. , 227 , 46.
McLeod, H. J., Byrne, M. K., & Aitken, R. (2004). Automatism and dissociation: Disturbances of consciousness and volition from a psychological perspective. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 27(5), 471-487.
Meynen, G., & Oei, K. (2011). Internationalizing forensic assessments of criminal responsibility. Med. & L., 30, 529.
Pobocha, J. (2019). Automatism in forensic psychiatry. SVEIKATOS , 29 (1), 67.
Yeo, S. M. (1992). Power of self-control in provocation and automatism. Sydney L. Rev., 14, 3.
