The Mad, the Bad, and the Innocent: The Criminal Mind on Trial - Tales of a Forensic Psychologist

In this timely, interesting book, psychologist Barbara R. Kirwin writes of her experience as a forensic psychologist in the New York City area. Kirwin did most of her evaluations and testimony on behalf of the prosecution, but her writing does not suffer from a prosecutorial bias. Rather, Kirwin attacks the treatment of insanity issues in the courts from a perspective outside traditional categories.While Kirwin deplores the use of "designer defenses" by high-paid counsel attempting to secure acquittals for psychopathic clients, she also is dismayed by juries' willingness to convict persons who are obviously mentally ill and in need of treatment, simply because the defendant "did the crime." Her lack of faith in jurors' ability to understand and apply the various insanity tests leads her at one point to suggest that insanity issues be removed from the jury's consideration altogether. She does not discuss the issues this might raise under the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution, which guarantees a defendant the right to jury trial. This is a very thorny issue and deserves further study. Overall, Kirwin is better at identifying the problems with such relics as the M'Naughten insanity test than she is at proposing workable solutions.The book would have benefitted from a broader discussion of the issues surrounding some of the defenses she discusses, including the multiple personality disorder defense. That defense poses fascinating philosophical and criminological issues, since the "alternate personality" who committed the crime is still part of the defendant's self, though perhaps alienated from the "higher" personae who are more capable of controlling their actions. Kirwin believes psychopaths should be punished for their crimes; what about a psychopathic "alternate personality"? A lot more could have been said here; overall Kirwin just skims the surface.

Excellent book dealing with topics such as faking bad and faking good, malingering, and understanding of the workings of the criminal mind as s/he comes into contact with the justice system. Other important issues are discussed such as the effect of the media in the courtroom, and the question of common sense at the end of the day after all the legalise has said its piece. Other highlights include reaction of jurors and judges in the face of the presentations layers make who are essentially interested in winning for their client. A justice system should be able to come to the truth and act on that at the end of the day, rather than how good ones lawyer is.

When a murderer pleads insanity in the New York City area, he is likely to meet Barbara Kirwin. A forensic psychologist of great experience, she skillfully employs the standard tools of her profession: and her own highly refined judgement, to help determine the degree of legal responsibility for criminal acts, usually murder. In her highly readable memoir, Kirwin uses several cases from her personal experience to illustrate the uses and abuses of the insanity defense; just and humane in some cases, wildly inappropriate in others. She exposes the dangerous folly of the lawyer-created "designer defense", and delineates carefully the dividing lines between the mad and the psychopaths who manipulate the system to evade responsibility for their acts. The author ends with a "manifesto for sanity" in which she makes some recommendations which should be carefully studied by policy-makers and anyone else concerned with public safety and humane treatment of the genuinely mentally ill. Highly recommended. (The "score" rating is an ineradicable feature of the page. This reviewer does not "score" books.)

I thought the book was well written and explained much about psychiatry and the law that gets overlooked with the parades of experts and media saturation that frequently accompany reporting of sensational and grisly crimes. Dr. Kirwin's criticism of "designer defenses" was very good and showed the extent to which their use (or misuse) makes it more difficult for those criminal defendants who truly have mental illnesses. I particularly agreed with Dr. Kirwin's recommendation that television cameras be barred from courtrooms, as some states (like Pennsylvania) and federal courts continue to do. I recommend it for any reader who is interested in knowing about a very controversial topic.