Temporarily insane
Pathologising cultural difference in American criminal courts
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2248654 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Sita Reddy (University of Pennsylvania, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2002 |
| Volume | 24 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 667-687 |
| Publication date | 2002-09-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Sociology of Health & Illness (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0141-9889 • E-ISSN: 1467-9566 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/1467-9566.00313 |
| OpenAlex | W2000815847 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
| References cited | 19 |
In recent years, American criminal courts have seen the rise of the culture defence strategy or the argument that the defendant's cultural background should excuse crime, mitigate responsibility or reduce the penalty for criminal behaviour. This paper argues that the rise and success of this strategy in practice reflects not just multiculturalism - as earlier studies contend - but the cultural impulse known as the 'therapeutic ethic'. Using the culture defence archive as a valuable and underused sociological resource, it examines the extent to which this legal strategy embodies the therapeutic ethic. Through an analysis of actual cases, the paper traces the medicalisation of culture in courts by which cultural differences are consistently converted into psychological disorders in order to diminish criminal responsibility. It suggests that culture defence must be seen not only against changes in criminal law - such as the increase in legal excuses that rely on the therapeutic ethic - but as an instance of how 'other' cultures may be pathologised in multicultural legal arenas
Argument (complex analysis · Criminology · Excuse · Legal culture · Multiculturalism · Political science · Sociology · Law · Law in Society and Culture · Occupational and Professional Licensing Regulation · Psychopathy, Forensic Psychiatry, Sexual Offending
The Romance of American Psychology
About the concept of the “dangerous individual” in 19th-century legal psychiatry
Habits of the heart
Critical Race Theory
Individualizing Justice through Multiculturalism
The Right to Be Different
Cultural Factors in Criminal Defense Proceedings
Culture and Individual Responsibility
Multicultural Jurisprudence and the Culture Defense
Foreign Customs and the English Criminal Law
After virtue
"Talking "Culture
The Anthropologist as Expert Witness
| Unique citing works | 6 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,3 |
| Citation span | 2006 - 2017 (12) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 6 |