Criminal Sociology [99]
of social defence are so strong that the great majority of classical criminal experts now accept criminal lunatic asylums, in spite of their manifest contradiction of the formal theories of moral responsibility, on the strength of which these asylums were, and still are, opposed by the intransigents of the classical school. This is why the new Italian penal code, in spite of its progressive aim, had not the courage in 1889 to adopt them frankly; and in the definitive text, as in the ministerial draft, it took refuge in an eclectic arrangement which has already met with a crowd of obstacles, due to the vagueness of the principles inspiring the code.
These criminal lunatic asylums ought to be of two kinds, differing in their discipline, one for the insane authors of serious and dangerous crimes, such as homicide, incendiarism, rape, and the like; and the other for slighter crimes, such as petty theft, violent language, outrages on public decency, and the like. For the latter, seclusion should be shorter than for the others. Thus in England convicts are sent to the State Asylum at Broadmoor, whilst minor offenders are sent to a county asylum.
Persons thus confined should be (1) prisoners acquitted on the ground of insanity, or sentenced for a fixed period, at the preliminary inquiry; (2) convicts who become insane during the expiation of their sentence; (3) insane persons who commit crimes in the ordinary asylums; (4) persons under observation for weak intellect in special wards, who have been put on their trial, and given grounds for suspecting madness.
At Broadmoor, on December 31, 1867, there were 389 male patients and 126 female; and in 1883 there were 381 males and 132 females, thus classified:--
Mad Criminals. Male. Female. Murder ... ... ... ... ... 155 ... 85 Attempted murder... ... ... 111 ... 18 Parricide... ... ... ... ... 7 ... 6 Theft ... ... ... ... ... 23 ... 3
Mad Criminals. Male. Female. Incendiarism ... ... ... ... 24 ... 1 Military offence ... ... ... 21 ... -- Attempted suicide... ... ... 3 ... {?}
In Germany, in the prison at Waldheim, the proportion of mad criminals to the corresponding classes of ordinary criminals was as follows:-- Percentage Crimes. In Prison. Insane. Homicide, actual or attempted ... 74 ... 17.6 Murder and malicious wounding ... 51 ... 9.8 Highway robbery with violence ... 64 ... 12.5 Incendiarism ... ... ... ... ... 219 ... 6.8 Rape ... ... ... ... ... ... 52 ... 5.8 Indecent assault ... ... ... ... 299 ... 5.7 Perjury ... ... ... ... ... ... 220 ... 2.7 Military crimes ... ... ... ... 23 ... 21.7 Crimes against property ... ... ... 5,116 ... 1.9 Other offences ... ... ... ... 158 ... 0.6 ---- ---- Total ... ... 6,276 ... 2.7
That is to say, there was (1) a very large proportion of madmen amongst the military offenders, which may point to the effect of military life, or else a careless selection for conscription, or both causes taken together; and (2) a greater proportion of mad criminals amongst the more serious offenders, partly because the authors of crimes of violence are subjected to more strict and frequent observation for madness.
It seems to me that this fact, which is also confirmed by the figures for England, is the most cogent argument in favour of criminal lunatic asylums.
For born criminals, since, as Dr. Maudsley says, we are face to face, if not exactly with a degenerate species, at least with a degenerate variety of the human species, and the problem is to diminish their number as much as possible, a preliminary question at once arises, namely, whether the penalty of death is not the most suitable and efficacious form of social defence against the anti-social class, when they commit crimes of great gravity.
It is a question which for a century past has divided the
These criminal lunatic asylums ought to be of two kinds, differing in their discipline, one for the insane authors of serious and dangerous crimes, such as homicide, incendiarism, rape, and the like; and the other for slighter crimes, such as petty theft, violent language, outrages on public decency, and the like. For the latter, seclusion should be shorter than for the others. Thus in England convicts are sent to the State Asylum at Broadmoor, whilst minor offenders are sent to a county asylum.
Persons thus confined should be (1) prisoners acquitted on the ground of insanity, or sentenced for a fixed period, at the preliminary inquiry; (2) convicts who become insane during the expiation of their sentence; (3) insane persons who commit crimes in the ordinary asylums; (4) persons under observation for weak intellect in special wards, who have been put on their trial, and given grounds for suspecting madness.
At Broadmoor, on December 31, 1867, there were 389 male patients and 126 female; and in 1883 there were 381 males and 132 females, thus classified:--
Mad Criminals. Male. Female. Murder ... ... ... ... ... 155 ... 85 Attempted murder... ... ... 111 ... 18 Parricide... ... ... ... ... 7 ... 6 Theft ... ... ... ... ... 23 ... 3
Mad Criminals. Male. Female. Incendiarism ... ... ... ... 24 ... 1 Military offence ... ... ... 21 ... -- Attempted suicide... ... ... 3 ... {?}
In Germany, in the prison at Waldheim, the proportion of mad criminals to the corresponding classes of ordinary criminals was as follows:-- Percentage Crimes. In Prison. Insane. Homicide, actual or attempted ... 74 ... 17.6 Murder and malicious wounding ... 51 ... 9.8 Highway robbery with violence ... 64 ... 12.5 Incendiarism ... ... ... ... ... 219 ... 6.8 Rape ... ... ... ... ... ... 52 ... 5.8 Indecent assault ... ... ... ... 299 ... 5.7 Perjury ... ... ... ... ... ... 220 ... 2.7 Military crimes ... ... ... ... 23 ... 21.7 Crimes against property ... ... ... 5,116 ... 1.9 Other offences ... ... ... ... 158 ... 0.6 ---- ---- Total ... ... 6,276 ... 2.7
That is to say, there was (1) a very large proportion of madmen amongst the military offenders, which may point to the effect of military life, or else a careless selection for conscription, or both causes taken together; and (2) a greater proportion of mad criminals amongst the more serious offenders, partly because the authors of crimes of violence are subjected to more strict and frequent observation for madness.
It seems to me that this fact, which is also confirmed by the figures for England, is the most cogent argument in favour of criminal lunatic asylums.
For born criminals, since, as Dr. Maudsley says, we are face to face, if not exactly with a degenerate species, at least with a degenerate variety of the human species, and the problem is to diminish their number as much as possible, a preliminary question at once arises, namely, whether the penalty of death is not the most suitable and efficacious form of social defence against the anti-social class, when they commit crimes of great gravity.
It is a question which for a century past has divided the