Do you think high-functioning mentally-ill or handicapped people or who commit major crimes should be punished the same as normal criminals?

[MCheetah]

Should people who have been diagnosed with pre-existing conditions as Autism, Asperger's, severe depression, anxiety disorder, BDD, BPD, or other mental or personality handicaps, be punished the same as "mentally sound" criminals?

Thought about this while out grocery shopping in the rain today. Part of me thinks "No," because "How you gonna punish someone who's literally retarded?" I also think society at large often ignores mental illness way too much, because it's "inconvenient" for them, and so many people often never get the help they need to better themselves, and often times, are even mocked or ridiculed for being special needs, especially in small hick towns. But then again, I'm not a criminal psychologist or psych major either, so what do I know?

When you're only on Part 5 of a 67+ part Chris Chan documentary and you know how it's going to end in the final season...

Yes, they should receive the same punishments and prison time as any other criminal.

No, they should not receive the same level of punishment, due to their mental condition.

Other / No opinion.

[imfreeze95]

I have ASD I say an unapologetic YES. ASD is not a free pas to do whatever the f$&k you want. I have never used my ASD as a crutch all I ask is that people understand I have a difficult time communicating and navigating social situations. But my moral compass is not in any way shape or form bankrupt to where I would use my condition as an excuse to do something criminal

[Jltakk]

High functioning would entail they knew right from wrong. I don't think Chris chan was anywhere close to high functioning anything. With that said, he absolutely deserved punishment.

[MCheetah]

He deserved lots and LOTS meds and weekly psych treatment, more than anything. I think people are WAY too harsh when it comes to mentally ill people. Yes, what he did was messed up, but he's also been known on the internet for 15 years now and almost NO ONE in that entire time, helped get him the treatment he needs, cause he isn't "high functioning" like he says he is, but he definitely THINKS he is.

So yeah, I think his community and family failed him, and like with so many other neglected mentally ill people, prison was just inevitable after that.

[IceCreamSandwich]

You can't really commit a major crime like a serious crime, and not have something going wrong upstairs. Even if it's not a disorder, or it's one of those ones that people think is normal, I would say all criminals probably need some mental care. That doesn't mean they don't get punished though. Just means rehabilitation should actually be rehabilitating, maybe, and not just re-training.

[LazerBean]

Chris Chan raped his severely dementia written, elderly mother. He should absolutely be put away where no one ever has to look at him again. Now I do think some people are severely mentally handicapped enough that they do not know right from wrong, but then they would not be high functioning.

[MCheetah]

I seriously doubt Chris Chan was high functioning. He thought his trolls were fans and didn't know the basics of talking to women (and yet sadly, still had girlfriends, even if he never lost his virginity to them).

[MCheetah]

But I posted his picture here, because Chris Chan BELIEVES he is "high functioning," and his lawyer would probably try to argue he is not.

[Fuentes]

No it's funny, when dealing with 5150's & just mentally ill people in general they act like they have no idea what they're doing until guns are drawn then they understand or they get shot & they finally understand lol but they can't understand how to commit themselves if they start getting to the point to commit a crime lol

I don't feel bad they should be charged, if they can prove insanity then they can get sent to a Detention center housed for the criminally insane.

[purplepoppy]

The key words are "high functioning" which to me implies they know right from wrong.

[msc545]

As someone who evaluates people for competency among other things I can tell you that that implication is in fact wrong.

[Pot8o]

I'd go case by case. Sometimes the mental illness might not be relevant to what they have done, e. g. if someone is depressed and goes on a rampage, I'd argue that is not a reasonable course of action regardless of how depressed you are.

[msc545]

Okay very severe depression often has features of psychosis. Assuming that you probably know what psychosis is would you like to revise your prior opinion?

[JDavid25]

Yeah, I mean Jeffrey Dahmer was mentally ill, and he drugged, raped, and ate his victims.. They are high functioning, so I feel like they know what they are doing.. I do agree that a lot of people do ignore those who need help though..

[msc545]

I don't think you understand the meaning of the word "retarded" (which we no longer use as it is very offensive - substitute "intellectually impaired")

[MCheetah]

I'm not changing my vocabulary on a word that's been used the same for decades because a few snowflakes on Twitter don't like it. There's literal connotations and colloquial connotations, and slang connotations, and I used it in the second form. Same way I don't adopt words like "Cisgender" or addressing someone's pronouns. I rarely say that word anyway, but it's the literal meaning in this case.

[MCheetah]

Or nearly literal, I guess.

[msc545]

Ok. The reason for the change in nomenclature was technical and not for any social reason.

[MCheetah]

But it has colloquial meanings besides just the technical one. It can mean:

- (N, formal) A person affected with intellectual disability.
- (N, informal/slang) A person who acts as if they have an intellectual disability (but doesn't). AKA, an idiot.
- (V) To slow something down or hold back.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/retard

Chris Chan could be the formal or informal one. No one really knows if he's special needs or not.

[msc545]

As I said we don't use that term anymore for a variety of reasons but if you feel like you need to use it then by all means go ahead

[MCheetah]

What is your opinion on the question, though? You never stated that.

[msc545]

I don't think there is a single answer - it' 's a very complicated question and the answer varies from case to case.

[exitseven]

yes, don;t do the crime of you can't do the time.

[JesseJayNeak]

Yes. No mercy