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The Impulsive Criminal Mind: When Thinking Comes After Acting · Inside The Criminal Mind

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  Speaker 1: Welcome back, everybody. Today we're going to be looking at
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  Speaker 1: ADHD and the law, so we'll see what we can
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  Speaker 1: find out. Think about two individuals standing before a judge.
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  Speaker 1: Both have committed similar offenses. Both understand that their actions
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  Speaker 1: were illegal, and both face potentially serious consequences. Yet one
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  Speaker 1: has a neurological history that may have influenced how quickly
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  Speaker 1: he acted, how poorly he anticipated consequences, and how difficult
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  Speaker 1: it was for him to interrupt his behavior. That individual
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  Speaker 1: has ADHD. Most people associate ADHD with distractibility, restlessness, or
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  Speaker 1: difficulty completing assignments. But ADHD also involves difficulties with executive functioning,
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  Speaker 1: the collection of cognitive processes that help us regulate behavior,
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  Speaker 1: inhibit impulses, organize information, and consider future consequences. These difficulties
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  Speaker 1: become particularly interesting through the lens of forensic psych. Research
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  Speaker 1: consistently finds that ADHD is more common among incarcerated populations
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  Speaker 1: than in the general. Some systematic reviews have estimated that
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  Speaker 1: approximately one-quarter of incarcerated individuals meet criteria for ADHD, although
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  Speaker 1: prevalence estimates vary considerably. And again, this does not make
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  Speaker 1: someone a criminal. Just because ADHD exists in a quarter
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  Speaker 1: does not make someone a criminal. Most individuals with ADHD
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  Speaker 1: never engage in criminal behavior, and a diagnosis cannot explain
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  Speaker 1: away personal responsibility. ADHD may contribute to certain vulnerabilities that
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  Speaker 1: combine with other factors. Substance misuse, conduct problems, abuse, whatnot,
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  Speaker 1: increase the likelihood of encounters with the criminal justice system.
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  Speaker 1: So let's look at impulsivity. A person without significant inhibitory
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  Speaker 1: difficulties might experience anger during An argument recognizes the potential
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  Speaker 1: consequences of acting aggressively and walk away. Someone struggling with
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  Speaker 1: behavioral inhibition may experience a shorter interval between emotional activation
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  Speaker 1: and action. The problem is not necessarily an inability to
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  Speaker 1: distinguish right from wrong. It may be difficult to apply
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  Speaker 1: that knowledge during moments of intense emotional arousal. This distinction
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  Speaker 1: matters enormously in forensic evaluations. Criminal responsibility generally involves legal
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  Speaker 1: questions about mental state and the ability to understand or
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  Speaker 1: appreciate one's actions under the applicable jurisdiction standards. Having ADHD
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  Speaker 1: does not automatically establish diminished responsibility, incompetence, or a legal defense. Nevertheless,
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  Speaker 1: ADHD symptoms may be relevant when evaluating an individual's developmental history,
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  Speaker 1: behavioral regulation, psychiatric functioning. Consider what happens after incarceration. Prison
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  Speaker 1: environments demand adherence to schedules, sustained attention, emotional control. Ironically,
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  Speaker 1: these are precisely the areas where some individuals with ADHD
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  Speaker 1: experience substantial difficulties. An incarcerated person who repeatedly interrupts instructions,
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  Speaker 1: reacts impulsively to confrontation, or struggles to complete assigned tasks
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  Speaker 1: may be interpreted as being defiant. And sometimes that interpretation
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  Speaker 1: could be accurate, but sometimes untreated ADHD contributes to the behavior.
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  Speaker 1: This creates a potential cycle in which symptoms lead to
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  Speaker 1: disciplinary problems. Treatment, therefore, becomes more than a question of
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  Speaker 1: reducing distractibility. You need appropriate assessments, psychological interventions, structured environments,
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  Speaker 1: and carefully monitored medication to improve functioning. However, treatment outcomes vary,
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  Speaker 1: and evidence that treating ADHD directly reduces criminal reoffending remains limited.
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  Speaker 1: Children with ADHD who experience academic failure, family conflict, peer rejection,
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  Speaker 1: or untreated co-occurring disorders may accumulate disadvantages over time. Early
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  Speaker 1: identification and appropriate support can address these difficulties. Yet ADHD
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  Speaker 1: alone is never a sufficient explanation for someone's life trajectory.
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  Speaker 1: For forensic psych, the central question is not simply whether
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  Speaker 1: an individual has ADHD, it is how the disorder interacts
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  Speaker 1: with personality, developmental experiences, substance use, and the specific circumstances
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  Speaker 1: of the behavior being evaluated. For clinicians, the challenge is
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  Speaker 1: recognizing the difference between intentional misconduct and genuine difficulties with self-regulation.
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  Speaker 1: For the criminal justice system, the challenge is balancing accountability
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  Speaker 1: with an accurate understanding of human behavior. ADHD reminds us
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  Speaker 1: of something about criminal psychology. Knowing what is right, choosing
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  Speaker 1: what is right, and consistently regulating behavior are related. but
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  Speaker 1: they're not identical psychological processes.