Should Psychopaths Be Held Morally Responsible For Their Crimes

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Ordinary people are haunted by gut-wrenching guilt after committing a violent crime. However, psychopaths are not ordinary people, and they do not experience emotion to the same degree as an average person. Psychopaths are nearly a different “breed” of human. When tried in court, a person can be held morally or legally responsible for a crime. For one to be held legally responsible, he or she must merely know the laws and understand that breaking them is illegal. On the other hand, one must be able to comprehend and articulate the difference between right and wrong to be convicted of moral culpable. Psychopaths should not be held morally responsible for their crimes because they lack emotional capacity, suffer from impaired brain function and abnormal genetic construction, and endure horrendous abuse and neglect in early childhood. The conscience, a necessary inner tool used to comprehend the difference between right and wrong, is something that all psychopaths lack. They might be aware of what is correct or incorrect, but they cannot associate those with feelings with emotions (Hunter). Psychopaths are simply incapable of comprehending emotions that naturally develop after going against the …show more content…
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