The evolution of legal methods for dealing with mind-state in crimes.
A. S. Watson,
Bull. Amer. Acad. Psychiatry & the Law
20(2): 211-20, 1992.
From its very beginnings, British and American common law have attempted to deal with the
mind-state of perpetrators of crime. This has taken various procedural and statutory forms that have
often been characterized by confusion and contradictions in purpose. Clarification of the
psychological and legal issues may assist in bringing the criminal treatment process to a more
rational basis.