Monday 5 May 2008

In Need of Help?

By now everyone has heard About This. My first reaction was a sense of pitty. No human being could do what that man did and be mentally stable. Under Austrian law this man wouldnt be going to a psychiatric facility he'd just be lumped together with all the other criminals.

Then I heard the interviews with his neighbours. He used to go to a local coffee shop and socialise. Most mentally ill people in a situation like this have a hard time distinguishing between right and wrong. They dont believe what they are doing is wrong. However in all his socialising there is no evidence he told anyone about the children locked in his cellar. This suggests he knew it was wrong. Does this change the punishment he should receive?

I have two beliefs when it comes to mentally ill criminals. Either they should be in a psychiatric facility for the rest of their lives. Rehabilitation is not an option. Or they should be executed, this is a financially efficient way of removing them from society.

1 comment:

Darkwinter said...

Firstly, I'm personally against the death penalty - but that's not a debate I'm going to get into because it invariably goes nowhere.

Secondly though, you say he never mentioned the children in his basement and therefore knew it was wrong. I think all this shows is that he knew that other people would see it as wrong - you might do something believing there to be nothing wrong with it, yet at the same time be aware that others would frown upon it (to say the least in this case). I'd say he remains mentally ill, but it's another grey area when you mix that with morality.