But the position has been put forth that this form of sexuality is a mental illness as apposed to a sexual orientation. Indirectly offering the defence of innocent by reason of mental disorder. If pedophilia is a mental disorder, then we'd have to revisit homosexuality and BDSM as possible mental illnesses as well.
I don't buy it as a mental disorder yet I also don't buy it as a sexual orientation. Orientation, to my way of looking at it, describes the gender of whom one is oriented towards: opposite, same, both, or neither. Heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, or asexual. That's the base and everything else pertaining to an individual's sexuality jumps off from there.
As far as a mental disorder, I can't quite buy that either. There are a lot of people who do not act upon their darkest fantasies, choices have to be made. In the extreme example of someone who cannot control their impulses and actually feel compelled to act upon them, they are actually not able to hide them very well. And if they are, it's not usually for very long. Think of someone with extreme OCD, very difficult to hide. Whereas these guys can hide it for a lifetime, many have. That's a lot of control for someone who has no control over their actions.
And, to my understanding, there is a big difference between the psychological definition of insanity and the legal one. So I don't necessarily think pedophilia, if viewed as a mental disorder, would necessarily open up anything in terms of a defence against crimes.
With regards to Vince Li, didn't he take himself off the medication that he was prescribed? If that is the case, then it would be his fault. This isn't directed at you Karrie, I just quoted you as I agree with your point about the fact that he cut off someone's head and that he shouldn't be let out scott-free for that.
Of course, it's been a while since I've read about this incident, so I could be thinking about someone else that stopped taking their medication.
No, I blame them for the actions that they do. I don't care if a person is mentally ill or "legally" sane. If they do something that is morally reprehensible than they do need to face the consequences. Mental illness shouldn't be able to be used as a "get out of jail free" card. There needs to be some culpability or there won't be any justice for the victims(in the case of the OT, the children who were fed semen!).
Sometimes it's not even about blame, it's about risk. Using Li as an example, I can buy the idea that, off his meds, he was so delusional as to not be responsible for his actions the way that you or I would be responsible for our actions. But he should be separated from the public because of the risk he poses. To my way of thinking, letting him out poses the same risk as letting out Bernardo, and no one would ever talks about doing that.
I personally believe the not guilty by reason of insanity plea should be removed from our system. Not sent to prison by reason of insanity should replace it. You kill somebody and are insane, you spend 25 years to life in a mental institution rather than a prison.
That sounds perfectly reasonable to me. Treat them by all means but once someone has demonstrated the risk they pose to others, then the safety of the public takes precedent.