CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN BEHAVIOR

LESSON 1: OVERVIEW OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR

What is Behavior?
Behavior refers to the actions of an organism or system, usually in relation to its
environment, which includes the other organism or systems around as well as the physical
environment. It is the response of the organism or system to various stimuli or inputs, whether
internal or external, conscious or subconscious, overt or covert, and voluntary or involuntary.

Kinds of Behavior
1. Overt or Covert Behavior – behavior that are outwardly manifested or those that are
directly observable are overt behavior. On the other hand, covert behaviors are behavior
that is hidden – not visible to the naked eye.
2. Conscious and Unconscious Behavior – behavior is conscious when acts are within
the level of awareness. It is unconscious when acts are embedded in one’s
subconscious – unaware.
3. Simple or Complex Behavior – these are acts categorized according to the number of
neurons involved in the process of behaving. Simple behavior involves less number of
neurons, a combination of simple behavior.
4. Rational or Irrational Behavior – there is rational behavior when a person acted with
sanity or reason and there is irrational behavior when the person acted with no apparent
reason or explanation – as when a man loses his sanity and laugh out loud at nobody or
nothing in particular.
5. Voluntary or Involuntary Behavior – voluntary behavior is an act done with full volition
or will such as when we discriminate, decide or choose while involuntary behavior refers
the bodily processes that foes on even when we are awake or asleep like respiration,
circulate and digestion.

Determinants of Behavior
The answer to these questions requires the study and understanding of the influence of
HEREDITY and ENVIRONMENT as cited by Tuason:

1. Heredity (Biological Factor) – this refers to the genetic influences, those that are
explained by heredity, the characteristics of a person acquired from birth transferred
from one generation to another. It explains that certain emotional aggression, our
intelligence, ability and potentials and our physical appearance are inherited.
2. Environmental Factor (Socio-Cultural Influences)
o Family Background – it is a basic consideration because it is in the family
whereby an individual first experiences how to relate and interact with another.
The family is said to be the cradle of human personality as a result of either a
close or harmonious relationship or a pathogenic family structure: the disturbed
family, broken family, separated or maladjusted relations.
 Pathogenic Family Structure – those families associated with high frequency of
problems such as:
  The inadequate Family – characterized by the inability to cope with the ordinary
problems of family living. It lacks the resources, physical or psychological, for
meeting the demands of family satisfaction.
 The Anti-social Family – those that espouses unacceptable values as a result
of the influence of parents to their children.
 The Discordant/disturbed Family – characterized by non-satisfaction of one or
both parent from the relationship that may express feeling of frustration.
 The Disrupted Family – characterized by incompleteness whether as a result of
death, divorce, separation or some other circumstances.

Other Determinants of Behavior

In order to further understand and provide answers on the question that why do some
people behave criminally, it is important to study the other determinants of behavior. These are
the needs, drives and motivation.

Needs and Drives – needs according to a drive reduction theory, is a biological requirement for
well-being of the individual. Drives therefore are an aroused state that results from some
biological needs.

Psychological Needs – are influenced primarily by the kind of society which the individual
raised. Psychological motives are those related to the individual happiness and well-being, but
not for the survival, unlike the biological motives that focuses of the basic needs – the primary
motives.

Abraham Maslow has suggested that human needs form a hierarchy from the most
basic biological requirements to the need for self-actualization – the highest of all needs.
1. Biological or Psychological Needs – these motives include the need for food, water,
oxygen, activity and sleep.
2. Safety Needs – these pertains to the motives of being cared for and being secured such
as in income and place to live.
3. Love/Belongingness – belongingness is integration into various kinds of social groups
or social groups or social organizations. Love needs means needs for affection.
4. Cognitive Needs - our motivation for learning and exploration.
5. Esteem Needs – our motivation for an honest, fundamental respect for a person as a
useful and honourable human being.
6. Aesthetic Needs – our motivation for beauty and order.
7. Self-actualization – pertains to human total satisfaction, when people are motivated not
so much by unmet needs, as by the desire to become all they are capable of self-
actualization.

Motivation – refers to the influences that govern the initiation, direction, intensity and
persistence of behavior. Thus motivation refers to the causes and “why’s” of behavior as
required by a need.

What is Human Behavior?

It is the voluntary or involuntary attitude a person adopts in order to fit society’s idea or
right or wrong. It is partly determined by heredity and environment. It is also the way human
beings act. Many people use the word behavior to mean conduct. But in psychology and other
behavioural sciences, behavior is regarded as any activity of a person.
HUMAN BEHAVIOR
Human behavior is properly the subject matter of psychology. Psychology defined as the
science that studies behavior and mental processes. The study of human behavior can be
approached from several viewpoints, to wit:
1. Neurological – emphasizes human actions in relation to events taking place inside the body,
especially the brain and nervous system.
2. Behavioural – focuses on those external activities of the organism that can be observed and
measured.
3. Cognitive - concerned with the way the brain processes and transforms information in
various ways.
4. Psychoanalytical – emphasizes unconscious motives stemming from-repressed sexual and
aggressive impulses in childhood.
5. Humanistic – focuses on the subject’s experience, freedom of choice and motivation toward
self-actualization.

What is Human Development?

Human development is the process of a person’s growth and maturation throughout their
lifespan, concerned with the creation of an environment where the people are able to develop
their full potential interests and needs. Development Is about the expansion of choices people
have in order to lead lives they value.

Four Pillars of Human Development

1. Equity – it is the idea that every person has the right to an education and health care,
that there must be fairness for all.
2. Sustainability – it encompasses the view that every person has the right to earn a living
that can sustain him or her, while everyone has the right to access to goods more evenly
distributed among the populations.
3. Production – it is the idea that people need more efficient social programs to be
introduced by their governments.
4. Empowerment – it is the view that people who are powerless, such as women, need to
be given power.

THEORIES OF CHILD (HUMAN DEVELOPMENT)

A. Personality Theory

Psychoanalytic Theory (Sigmund Freud)

1. ID – ID allows us to get our basic needs met. Freud believed that the id is based on the
pleasure principle i.e. it wants immediate satisfaction, with no consideration for the
reality of the situation. ID refers to the selfish, primitive, childish, pleasure-oriented part
of the personality with no ability to delay gratification.
2. EGO – as the child interacts more with the world, the ego begins to develop. The ego’s
job is to meet the needs of the ID, while taking into account the constraints of reality. The
 EGO acknowledges that being impulsive or selfish can sometimes hurt us, so the ID
must constrained (reality principle). Ego is the moderator between the ID and
SUPEREGO which seeks compromises to pacify both. It can be viewed as our “sense of
time and place”.
3. SUPEREGO (Conscience of Man) – the superego develops during the phallic stage as
a result of the moral constraints placed on us by our parents. It is generally believed that
a strong superego serves to inhibit the biological instincts of the ID. Superego
internalizes society and parental standards of “good and bad”, “right and wrong”,
behavior.

Psychosexual Stages (Freud’s Model of Personality Development)

1. Oral Stage (0-18 Months)
This is the first psychosexual stage in which the infant’s source of id gratification is the
mouth. Infant gets pleasure from sucking and swallowing. Later when he has teeth, infants
enjoys the aggressive pleasure of biting and chewing. A child who is frustrated at this stage may
develop an adult personality that is characterized by pessimism, envy and suspicion.
2. Anal Stage (18 Months-3 Years)
This represents the conflict between the id, which derives pleasure from the expulsion of
bodily wastes, and the super-ego which represents external pressure to control bodily functions.
If the parents are too lenient in this conflict, it will result in the formation of an anal expulsive
character of the child who is disorganized, reckless and defiant. Conversely, a child may opt to
retain feces, thereby spiting his parents, and may develop an anal retentive character which is
neat, stingy and obstinate.

3. Phallic Stage (3-6 Years)

Genitals become the primary source of pleasure. The child’s erotic pleasure focuses on
masturbation, that is, on self-manipulation of the genitals. He develops a sexual attraction to the
parent of the opposite sex; boys develop unconscious desires for their mother and become
rivals with their father for her affection.
As a result, the boys develop masculine characteristics and repress his sexual feelings
towards his mother. This is known as:
a. Oedipus Complex – this refers to an instance where in boys build up a warm and loving
relationship with mother’s (mama’s boy).
b. Electra Complex – this refers to an occasion where in girls experience an intense
emotional attachment for their fathers (daddy’s girl).
Note: The Oedipus Complex in named for the King Thebes who killed his father and
married his mother.

4. Latency Stage (6-11 Years)

Sexual interest is relatively inactive in this stage. Sexual energy is going through the
process of sublimation and is being converted into interest in schoolwork, riding bicycles,
playing house and sports.
5. Genital Stage (11 Yeas on)
 This refers to the start of puberty and genital stage; there is renewed interest in obtaining
sexual pleasure through the genitals. Masturbation often becomes frequent and leads to orgasm
for the first time. Sexual and romantic interest in others also becomes a central motive.

STAGE FOCUS

1. Oral (0-18 months)  Pleasure centers on the mouth (sucking, biting,

chewing)

2. Anal (18-36 months)  Pleasure focuses on bowel and bladder

elimination: coping with demands for control.

3. Phallic (3-6 years)  Pleasure zone is the genitals; coping with

incestuous sexual feelings.

4. Latency (6 years to puberty)  A phase of dormant sexual feelings.

5. Genital (puberty on)  Maturation of sexual interest.

Freud Psychosexual Theory believes that we are born with two basis instincts:
1. Eros – this is named after the Greek god of love. Eros includes the sex drives and drives
such as hunger and thirst.
2. Thanatos – this is named after Greek god of death. This includes not only striving for
death but also destructive motives such as hostility and aggression.

B. Trait Theory
Trait approach identifies where a person might lie along a continuum of various
personality characteristics. Trait theories attempt to learn and explain the traits that make up
personality, the differences between people in terms of their personal characteristics, and how
they relate to actual behavior.
Trait refers to the characteristics of an individual, describing habitual way of behaving,
thinking and feeling.

Personality Trait by Eysenck

1. Extrovert – it refers that is sociable, out-going and active.
2. Introvert – it refers to a person that is withdrawn, quiet, and introspective.
3. Emotionally Unstable – it is trait that is being anxious, excitable, and easily disturbed.

C. Cognitive Development Theory (Jean Piaget)

Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development suggests that children move through four
different stages of mental development. This theory focuses not only understanding how
children acquire knowledge, but also on understanding the nature of intelligence.

STAGE CHARACTERISTICS
 1. Sensorimotor (birth – 2 years) - The child learns by doing: looking, touching,
and sucking. The child also has a primitive
understanding of cause-and-effect
relationships. Object performance appears 9
months.

2. Preoperational ( 2 years – 7 - The child uses language and symbols

years) including letters and numbers. Egocentrism is
also evident. Conversation marks the end of
the preoperational stage and the beginning of
concrete operations.

3. Concrete Operational (7 years – - The child demonstrates conversation,

11 years) reversibility, serial ordering and a mature
understanding of cause-and-effect
relationships. Thinking at this stage is still
concrete.

4. Formal Operational (12 years - The individual demonstrates abstract thinking,

and up) including logic, deductive reasoning,
comparison and classification.

D. Socio-Cultural Theory
Social Development Theory is the work of Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky.
Vygotsky’s work was largely unknown to the West until it was published in 1962. Vygotsky’s
theory is one of the foundations of constructivism. It asserts three major themes regarding
social interaction, the more knowledgeable other and the zone of proximal development.
Social Development Theory argues that social interaction precedes development;
consciousness and cognition are the end product of socialization and social behavior.

E. Bio Ecological Theory (Urie Bronfenbrenner)

This is known as the Human Ecology Theory, the Ecological System theory states that
human development is influenced by the different types of environmental systems. This theory
help us understand why we may behave differently when we compare our behavior in the
presence of our family and our behavior when we are in school or at work.

The Five Environmental Systems

The ecological system theory holds that we encounter different environments throughout
our lifespan that may influence our behavior in varying degrees. These systems include the
micro system, the mesosystem, the exosystem, the macro system and the chornosystem.

1. The Micro System – the micro system’s setting is the direct environment we have in our
lives. Your family, friends, classmates, teachers, neighbours and other people who have
a direct contact with you are included in your micro system.
 2. The Mesosystem – the mesosytem involves the relationships between involves the
relationships between the microsystems in one’s life. This means that your family
experience may be related to your school experience.
3. The Exosystem – the exosystem is the setting in which there is a link between the
context where in the person does not have any active role, and the context where in is
actively participating. Suppose a child is more attached to his father than his mother. If
the father goes abroad to work for several months, there may be a conflict between the
mother and the child’s social relationship, or on the other hand, this event may result to a
tighter bond between the mother and the child.
4. The Macrosystem – the macrosystem setting is the actual culture of an individual. The
cultural contexts involve the socioeconomic status of the person and/or his family, his
world country. For example, being born to a poor family makes a person work hard every
day.
5. The Chronosystem – the chronosystem includes the transitions and shift in one’s
lifespan. This may also involve the socio-historical context that my influence a person.

F. Moral Development
The Theory of Moral Development is a very interesting subject that stemmed from Jean
Piaget’s theory of moral reasoning. This theory made us understands that morality starts from
the early childhood years and can be affected by several factors.

Level of Moral Development

Level 1: Preconventional Morality

The first level of morality, preconventional morality, can be further divided into two
stages: obedience and punishment, and individualism and exchange.

Stage 1: Punishment – Obedience Orientation – related to Skinner’s Operational

Conditioning, this stage includes the use of punishment so that the person refrains from
doing the action and continues to obey the rules.

Stage 2: Instrumental Relativist Orientation – in this stage, the person is said to judge
the morality of an action based on how it satisfies the individual needs of the doer. For
instance, person steals money from other person because he needs that money to buy
food for his hungry children. In Moral Development Theory, the children tend to say that
this action is morally right because of the serious need of the doer.

Level 2: Conventional Morality

The second level of morality involves the stages 3 and 4 of moral development.
Conventional morality includes the society and societal roles in judging the morality of an action.

Stage 3: Good Boy-Nice Girl Orientation – in this stage, a person judges an action
based on the societal roles and social expectations before him. This is also known as
 the “interpersonal relationship” phase. For example, a child gives away her lunch to a
street peasant because she thinks doing so means being nice.
Stage 4: Law and Order Orientation – this stage includes respecting the authorities
and following the rules, as well as doing a person’s duty. The society is the main
consideration of a person at this stage. For instance, a policeman refuses the money
offered to him under the table and arrests the offender because he believes this is his
duty as an officer of peace and order.

Level 3: Post-conventional Morality

The post-conventional morality includes stage 5 and 6. This is mainly concerned with the
universal principles that relation to the action done.

Stage 5: Social Contract Orientation – in this stage, the person is look at various
opinions and values of different people before coming up with the decision on the
morality of the action.
Stage 6: Universal Ethical Principle Orientation – the final stage of moral reasoning,
this orientation is when person considers universally accepted ethical principles. The
judgement may become innate and may even violate the laws and rules as the person
becomes attached to his own principles of justice.

Psychological Explanation for Human Behavior

1. The mind and its relationship to crime – the way we think.
2. Psychiatric Approach – the field of medicine that specializes in the understanding,
diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mental problems is psychiatry.
3. Personality Theory – emotional conflict and personality deviation characterize many
criminals, especially habitual offenders.
4. Intelligence and Crime – closely associated with the mental disorder approach linking
of crime and intelligence. It is argued that low intelligence causes crimes.
5. Cognitive Development Theory – this approach is based on the belief that the way in
which people organized their thoughts about rules and laws results in either criminal or
non-criminal behavior.
6. Behaviour Theory – based on the belief that it is not unconscious that is important but,
rather, behavioural can be observed and manipulated.
7. Learning Theory - it acknowledges the individuals to have psychological mechanism
that permit them to behave aggressively, maybe accomplished by using other people as
models.

LESSON 2: ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR

What is Abnormal Behavior?

 Abnormal behavior is something deviating from the normal or differing from the typical, is
subjectively defines behavioural characteristics, assigned to those with rare or dysfunctional
conditions. It may be abnormal when it is unusual, socially unaccepted, self-defeating,
dangerous, or suggestive of faulty interpretation of reality or of personal distress.

What is Psychopathology?
Psychopathology is the scientific study of mental disorder, including efforts to
understand their genetic, biological, psychological, and social causes; effective classification
schemes; course across all stages of development; manifestations; and treatment. It is also
defined as the origin of mental disorders, how they develop, and the symptoms they might
produce.

The 4D’s
A description of the four D’s when defining abnormality:
1. Deviance – this term describes that specific thought, behavior and emotions are
considered deviant when they are unacceptable or not common in society.
2. Distress – this term accounts negative feelings for an individual with disorder. He or she
may feel deeply troubled and affected by their illness.
3. Dysfunction – this term involves maladaptive behavior that impairs the individual’s
ability to perform normal daily functions, such as getting ready for work in the morning.
4. Danger – this term involves dangerous or violent behavior directed at the individual, or
others in the environment. An example of dangerous behavior that may suggest a
psychological disorder is engaging in suicidal activity.

Identification of Abnormal Behavior

1. Deviation from Statistical Norm

The word abnormal means “away from norm”, but according to this definition, a
person who is extremely intelligent should be classified as abnormal. Examples are:
a. Intelligence – it is statistically abnormal for a person to get a score about 145 on
an IQ test or to get a score below 55, but only the lowest score is considered
abnormal.
b. Anxiety – a person who is anxious all the time or has a high level of anxiety and
someone who almost never feels anxiety are all considered to be abnormal.
2. Deviation from Social Norm
Every culture has certain standards for acceptable behavior; behavior that
deviates from that standard is considered to be abnormal behavior. But those standards
can change with time and vary from one society to another.
3. Maladaptive Behavior
Maladaptive behavior is the effect of a well-being of the individual and or the
social group. That some kind of deviant behavior interferes with the welfare of the
individual such as a man who fears crowd can’t ride a bus. This means that a person
cannot adopt himself with the situation where in it is beneficial to him.
 a. Maladaptive to One’s self – it refers to the inability of a person to reach goals or
to adapt the demands of life.
b. Maladaptive to Society – it refers to a person’s obstruction or disruption to
social group functioning.
4. Personal Distress
This is abnormally in terms of the individual subjective feelings of distress rather
than the individual behavior. This includes mental illness, feeling of miserably,
depression, and loss of appetite or interest, suffering from insomnia and numerous
aches and pains.
5. Failure to Function Adequately
Under this definition, a person is considered abnormal if they are unable to cope
with the demands of everyday life. They may unable to perform the behavior necessary
for day-to-day living e.g. self-care, hold down a job, interact meaningfully with others,
make themselves understood etc.

Symptoms of Abnormal Behavior

1. Long Periods of Discomfort – this could be anything as simple as worrying about a

calculus test or grieving the death of a loved one. This distress is related to a real related
or threatened event and passes with time. When such distressing feelings, however,
persist for an extended period of time and seem to be unrelated to events surrounding
the person, they would consider abnormal and could suggest a psychological disorder.
2. Impaired Functioning – a distinction must be made between simply a passing period of
inefficiency and prolonged inefficiency which seems unexplainable. For instance, a very
brilliant person consistently fails in his classes or someone who constantly changes his
jobs for no apparent reason.
3. Bizarre Behavior – this behavior has no rational basis seems to indicate that the
individual is confused. They psychoses frequently results hallucinations or delusions.
4. Disruptive Behavior – this behavior means impulsive, apparently uncontrollable
behavior that disrupts the lives of other or deprives them of their human rights on a
regular basis. This type of behavior is characteristic of a severe psychological disorder.

LESSON 3: MENTAL DISORDER

What is a Mental Disorder?

Mental Disorder refers to the significant impairment in psychological functioning. A
mental behavior, also called a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioural or mental
pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning.

What is Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder?

It is known as the DSM-IV; the manual is published by the American Psychiatric
Association and covers all mental health disorder for both children and adults. It also lists known
causes of these disorders, statistics in terms of gender, age, at onset, and prognosis as well as
some research concerning the optimal treatment approaches.
What is American Psychiatric Association (APA)?
APA is a medical specialty society with over 35,000 US and international member
physicians who “work together to ensure humane care and effective treatment for all persons
with mental disorder, including mental retardation and substances-related disorder. It is the
voice and conscience of modern psychiatry. Its vision is a society that has available, accessible
quality psychiatric diagnosis and treatment”.

What is Mental Retardation (MR)?

MR is condition of limited ability in which an individual has low Intelligence Quotient (IQ),
usually below 70 on traditional intelligence test, has difficulty adapting to everyday life; he/she
exhibited these characteristics during the so-called developmental period – by age 18.

Four Different Levels of Mental Retardation

1. Mild Mental Retardation – approximately 85% of the mentally retarded population is in
the mildly retarded category. Their IQ score ranges from 50-70, and they can often
acquire academic skills up to about the sixth-grade level.
2. Moderate Mental Retardation – about 10% of the mentally retarded population is
considered moderately retarded population is considered moderately retarded.
Moderately retarded persons have IQ scores ranging 35-55. They can carry out work
and self-care task with moderate supervision. They typically acquire communication
skills in childhood and are able to live and function environment within the community in
such supervised environments as group homes.
3. Severe Mental Retardation – about 3-4 of the mentally retarded population is severely
retarded. Severely retarded persons have IQ scores of 20-40. They may master very
basic self-care skills and some communication skills. Many severely retarded individual
are able to live in group home.
4. Profound Mental Retardation – only 1-2% of the mentally retarded population is
classified as profoundly retarded. Profoundly retarded individuals have IQ scores under
20-24. They may be able to develop basic self-care and communication skills with
appropriate support and training. Profoundly retarded people need a high level of
structure and supervision.

LESSON 4: CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR AND INTELLIGENCE

What is Criminal Behavior?

Criminal Behavior refers to a behavior which is criminal in nature; a behavior which
violates a law. Thus, the moment a person violates the law, he had already committed criminal
behavior. Criminal behavior refers to conduct of an offender that leads to and including the
commission of an unlawful act.

Origins of Criminal Behavior

1. Biological Factor
Heredity as a factor implies those criminal acts are unavoidable, investable
consequences of the bad seed or bad blood. The following are some studies and
theories related to biological causes of crime.
a. Born Criminal (Cesare Lombroso)
b. Pysique and Somatotype (Kretschmer & William Sheldon)
c. Juke and Kallikak (Richard Dugdale & Henry Goddard)
2. Personality Disorder Factor
Personality disorder factor refers to an act that exhibits a pervasive pattern of
disregard for and violation of the rights of others that begins in childhood or early
adolescence and continues into adulthood such as Anti-Social Personality Disorder.
3. Learning Factor
Learning factor explains that criminal behavior is learned primarily by observing
or listening to people around us. The following are related learning theories, to wit;
a. Differential Association Theory (Edwin Sutherland)
b. Imitation Theory (Gabriel Tarde)
c. Identification Theory (Daniel Classer)
4. Biological Approach
Biological approach points to inherited predispositions and physiological
processes to explain individual differences in personality. It is a perspective that
emphasizes the role of biological processes and heredity as the key to understanding
behavior.
5. Humanistic Approach
Humanistic approach identifies personal responsibility and feelings of self-
acceptance as the key causes of differences in personality. This perspective focuses on
how humans have involved and adapted behaviors required for survival against various
environmental pressures over the long course of evolution.
6. Behavioral/Social Learning Approach
Behavioral/Social Learning approach explains consistent behavior patterns as
the result of conditioning and expectations. This emphasizes the role of environment in
shaping behavior.
 Behavioral Personality Theory – it is a model of personality that emphasizes learning
and observable behavior.
 Social Learning Theory – it is an explanation of personality that combines learning
principles, cognition, and effects of social relationships.
 Self-reinforcement – this is the praising or rewarding oneself for having made a
particular response.
 Identification – it is a feeling from which one is emotionally connected to a person and a
way of seeing oneself as himself or herself. The child admires adults who love and care
for him/her and this encourages imitation.

7. Cognitive Approach
 Cognitive approach looks at differences in the way people process information to
explain differences in behavior. This perspective emphasizes the role of mental
processes that underlie behavior.

Intelligence and Criminality

What is Human Intelligence?

Human intelligence generally points to at least three characteristics. First intelligence is
best understood as compilation of brain-based cognitive abilities. Intelligence reflects “a very
general mental capability that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve
problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly and learn from experience.

Criminal Law and Intelligence

McNaughton (M’Naghten) Rule?

An English court maintained that a man was not responsible for an act if “he does not
know what he is doing, no more…a wild beast”. Modern standard of legal responsibility,
however, have been based on the McNaughton decision of 1843.
The McNaughton Rule requires that a criminal defendant (a) not know what he was
doing at the time or (b) not know that his actions were wrong.

What is Durham Rule?

The Durham rule states that, “an accused is not criminally responsible if his
unlawful act is the product of mental disease or mental defect”. Some states added their
statutes this doctrine which is also known as “irresistible impulse” recognizing some ill
individuals may respond correctly but may be unable to control their behavior. This rule requires
that a defendant (a) lacks the ability to understand the meaning of their act or (b) cannot control
their impulses.