Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Implications for the Criminal Justice System

1997 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sam Goldstein
Keyword(s):  
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Attention Deficit ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Hyperactivity Disorder

“It Will Help You Repent”

2020 ◽  
pp. 255-269
Author(s):  
William Bülow
Keyword(s):  
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
Attention Deficit ◽  
Pharmacological Treatment ◽  
Criminal Punishment ◽  
Hyperactivity Disorder ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Psychopharmacological Intervention ◽  
Communicative Theory

This chapter explores The question of whether prison inmates suffering from attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) should be administered a psychopharmacological intervention (methylphenidate) for their condition. The theoretical starting point for the discussion is the communicative theory of punishment, which understands criminal punishment as a form of secular penance. Viewed through the lens of the communicative theory, the provision of pharmacological treatment to offenders with ADHD need not necessarily be conceived of as an alternative to punishment, but as an aid to achieving the penological ends of secular penance. The criminal justice system punishes offenders who commit offences prohibited under the criminal law, and the hope is that this will lead them to become repentant, to start reforming themselves, and to reconcile with those whom they wronged. However, the neurophysiological obstacles associated with severe ADHD present serious obstacles to achieving repentance and self-reform. As a remedy, the chapter proposes that to achieve those aims, criminal offenders diagnosed with ADHD should be offered the option to undergo pharmacological treatment. This proposal is defended from the objection that secular penance made possible by methylphenidate is less authentic.

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