Barrett, The Honors College Thesis/Creative Project Collection
Barrett, The Honors College at Arizona State University proudly showcases the work of undergraduate honors students by sharing this collection exclusively with the ASU community.
Barrett accepts high performing, academically engaged undergraduate students and works with them in collaboration with all of the other academic units at Arizona State University. All Barrett students complete a thesis or creative project which is an opportunity to explore an intellectual interest and produce an original piece of scholarly research. The thesis or creative project is supervised and defended in front of a faculty committee. Students are able to engage with professors who are nationally recognized in their fields and committed to working with honors students. Completing a Barrett thesis or creative project is an opportunity for undergraduate honors students to contribute to the ASU academic community in a meaningful way.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3
Description
This thesis explores the evolution of the insanity defense throughout legal history beginning with ancient Greek and Roman times. Ideas about treating the insane separate from the sane in a criminal proceeding were first expressed by famous philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle. The insanity defense was codified into the Justinian Code under Roman Law, but there was no criteria to distinguish who was insane and who was not. From the 14th to 19th centuries, a number of insanity tests were developed in English common law, resulting in the milestone M’Naghten rules, which became the basis for the insanity defense as it exists in the United States today. This paper explores how M’Naghten can be interpreted, what it does well, and its criticism. The thesis then explores how a number of other insanity defense standards rose in the United States, including the Irresistible Impulse Test, the New Hampshire test, the Durham test, the Model Penal Code, the Insanity Defense Reform Act, Guilty but Mentally Ill, and abolishing the insanity defense all together. The thesis asserts why all of these standards fall short of providing adequate protections for the insane in the criminal justice system and do not accurately define legal insanity. There is an analysis of both the theoretical and practical implications of trending alternate proposals for the insanity defense, including the Mental Illness Contribution Defense and Not Criminally Responsible By Reason of Recognized Medical Condition. Then, an argument is presented for the proposal for a new standard for insanity incorporating the ideas of philosopher Herbert Fingarette.
ContributorsHartunian, Jordyn (Author) / Rigoni, Adam (Thesis director) / Mack, Robert (Committee member) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
This paper investigates whether incarceration has an effect on political orientation, addressing the hypothesis that the experience of incarceration also shapes the political behavior and attitudes of those who have been confined (Manza, Uggen 2006; Clear 2007; Travis 2005). The primary aim of the research is to identify what role, if at all, the penal system plays in how incarcerated individuals think about politics. The data relied on to reach conclusions about the incarcerated population derives from voluntary responses to a survey implemented within a company that hires formerly and currently incarcerated persons. I find that the majority of the sample I surveyed became more politically liberal as a result of incarceration and a vast majority want to participate in the political process. These findings corroborate my hypotheses regarding the effects of incarceration on political beliefs, but contradict my assumption regarding the effect of social capital on their desire to participate in politics.
ContributorsFrederickson, Nicola B (Author) / Rigoni, Adam (Thesis director) / Forst, Bradley (Committee member) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Realistically, everyone should either be in jail or in court for crimes that everybody
commits. Outside of the house, there are people speeding, jaywalking, littering, sharing
medication, and driving without seat belts. Inside the house, people are downloading
music/movies, drinking while underage, using (and abusing) social media while under the age of
18, and reading another person’s mail. With so much of a focus on serious crimes, or felonies,
people tend to forget about the everyday actions in America that are also illegal. For example, a
police officer may not do anything if several cars are going well over the speed limit on the
highway, because it is normalized. This paper explores two sides of this issue: the psychological
side and the legal side. The goal is to find out how culpable people really are for their actions
when they do not have the mental intent that the they are determined to have in court. All human
behavior will be divided into two sections (people with non-extreme mental disorders and people
who have total control over their behavior). First, I dive into the complexity of anxiety,
depression, and ADHD, and explain how these disorders will subtly change someone’s behavior.
Next, I examine how actions like speeding and jaywalking and explain how certain illegal
actions have become so normalized that people may not be very guilty, even when they are
knowingly committing these crimes. I use different misdemeanors as examples for each of these
types of behaviors to argue why people should be more culpable (aggravating factors) or less
culpable (mitigating factors) because of their respective predispositions. Finally, I discuss issues
of fixing the criminal justice system such as: how to make all punishments fair/accurate, how to
fix the public’s distrust towards the law, and how to stop these normalized illegal behaviors for
all people, regardless of mental health or intent.
commits. Outside of the house, there are people speeding, jaywalking, littering, sharing
medication, and driving without seat belts. Inside the house, people are downloading
music/movies, drinking while underage, using (and abusing) social media while under the age of
18, and reading another person’s mail. With so much of a focus on serious crimes, or felonies,
people tend to forget about the everyday actions in America that are also illegal. For example, a
police officer may not do anything if several cars are going well over the speed limit on the
highway, because it is normalized. This paper explores two sides of this issue: the psychological
side and the legal side. The goal is to find out how culpable people really are for their actions
when they do not have the mental intent that the they are determined to have in court. All human
behavior will be divided into two sections (people with non-extreme mental disorders and people
who have total control over their behavior). First, I dive into the complexity of anxiety,
depression, and ADHD, and explain how these disorders will subtly change someone’s behavior.
Next, I examine how actions like speeding and jaywalking and explain how certain illegal
actions have become so normalized that people may not be very guilty, even when they are
knowingly committing these crimes. I use different misdemeanors as examples for each of these
types of behaviors to argue why people should be more culpable (aggravating factors) or less
culpable (mitigating factors) because of their respective predispositions. Finally, I discuss issues
of fixing the criminal justice system such as: how to make all punishments fair/accurate, how to
fix the public’s distrust towards the law, and how to stop these normalized illegal behaviors for
all people, regardless of mental health or intent.
ContributorsHildebrand, David Abel (Author) / Rigoni, Adam (Thesis director) / Cavanaugh-Toft, Carolyn (Committee member) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05