Durham rule

a 1954 ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals in a case involving a defendant named Durham. It stated that “an accused is not criminally responsible if his unlawful act was the product of mental disease or mental defect.” This rule has been replaced by the American Law Institute Model Penal Code insanity test. Also called Durham decision; Durham test; product rule.

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Psychology term of the day

December 21st 2024

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.