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criminal responsibility

a defendant’s ability to formulate criminal intent (see mens rea) at the time of the crime with which he or she is charged; it must be proved in court before the person can be convicted. Criminal responsibility may be excluded for reason of insanity (see Durham rule; irresistible impulse rule; M’Naghten rule) or mitigated for a number of other reasons (see diminished capacity; diminished responsibility).

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Psychology term of the day

December 21st 2024

neurosis

neurosis

n. any one of a variety of mental disorders characterized by significant anxiety or other distressing emotional symptoms, such as persistent and irrational fears, obsessive thoughts, compulsive acts, dissociative states, and somatic and depressive reactions. The symptoms do not involve gross personality disorganization, total lack of insight, or loss of contact with reality (compare psychosis). In psychoanalysis, neuroses are generally viewed as exaggerated, unconscious methods of coping with internal conflicts and the anxiety they produce. Most of the disorders that used to be called neuroses are now classified as anxiety disorders. Also called psychoneurosis. —neurotic adj., n.