Morally excused but socially excluded: Denying agency through the defense of mental impairment.

Defendants can deny they have agency, and thus responsibility, for a crime by using a defense of mental impairment. We argue that although this strategy may help defendants evade blame, it may carry longer-term social costs, as lay people's perceptions of a person's agency might determine...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Melissa de Vel-Palumbo, Chelsea Schein, Rose Ferguson, Melissa Xue-Ling Chang, Brock Bastian
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2021-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0252586