Abstract
The insanity plea has been the object of intense political controversy. This article explores the conflicting models of human behavior which underlie changing definitions of insanity in the law. The argument is that the psychoanalytic model defines rationality as an irreducibly social phenomenon. Consequently, an individual's capacity for rationality is dependent upon the adequacy of social conditions conducive to its development. But this model of rationality remains incompatible with a theory of responsibility which can only assign guilt to individuals.
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