Abnormal Psychology, Article Critique Example

Article 1 – “Sensational Murder Case in Arizona Draws to Close”

The first article I have chosen to review is entitled “Sensational Murder Case in Arizona Draws to Close”. The article was written by Felicia Fonesca and was published online on the ABC news website on January 9, 2014.

The article discusses the case of Steven DeMocker who was accused of hitting his wife on the head with a golf club until she passed away. The court believed his motive for this was to cash in on his wife’s life insurance policy so he would be able to rid himself of debt. DeMocker was just found guilty of first degree murder and prosecutors hope that he will be sent to prison for life because “this was a beating murder committed by an enraged, hateful defendant” (Fonesca, 2014). Interestingly however, DeMocker was convicted and will be sentence based upon circumstantial evidence; law enforcement officials have been unable to find the murder weapon and as a consequence, DNA and fingerprint testing to confirm DeMocker’s guilt is not possible.

This is an interesting case due to lack of evidence. Fonesca reports that, “Despite a painstaking search for blood and other evidence in DeMocker’s car, washing machine, drains, and at his home and office, authorities came up empty-handed” (Fonesca, 2009). While a lack of evidence doesn’t necessarily clear DeMocker’s name, it is concerning that a man who may possibly be innocent can be convicted based on circumstantial evidence. Although there was no physical evidence, DeMocker certainly had a motive and he had collected books that educated him about how to evade authorities. At the same time, his daughter had reported that she believed her mother was killed by gang members.

Abnormal psychology can play a useful role in the evaluation of the defendant, because in the absence of physical evidence, a psychological evaluation is necessary. While debt is a serious concern for many individuals, they are unlikely to murder a loved one to benefit from the deceased’s life insurance policy. As a consequence, it is possible to interview friends and family of Steven DeMocker in order to create a better understanding of his mental state. This psychological evidence can be used to support circumstantial evidence and more adequately describe what DeMocker is capable of which would help the court create a better understanding of what could have happened to his wife.

It would therefore be useful to quantify DeMocker’s abnormal behavior. First, this is a statistical abnormality because the behavior of actively murdering an individual for financial gain is relevant to only a small percentage of the population. It should then be determined whether DeMocker is suffering from mental illness. Next, his psychometric abnormality should be assessed in addition to combinations of other behaviors such as the link between distress and inappropriate response. If DeMocker had responded atypically to many other situations in the past, it is possible that he did so in this situation as well and was responsible for the murder of his wife. If these abnormalities are new, sudden, and unexpected, his name may be cleared.

I ultimately do not believe that enough evidence is available to be able to convict Steven DeMocker, even though his behavior is suspicious. I believe that this trial would benefit from making use of psychological evaluators as evidence to determine the state of mind of not only DeMocker, but his daughter, the witnesses, and others affiliated with this case. Circumstantial evidence is unfortunately difficult to work with, and it is difficult to claim that DeMocker should be in prison for life for a crime that it is impossible to prove that he committed. However, psychological evaluation will certainly allow the jury to come to a more definitive answer when they convict him and the judge will be able to better define the scope of his sentence.

Article 2 – “Deadly Dreams”

The second article I have chosen to review is entitled “Deadly Dreams”. The article was written by Keith Morrison and published online on the NBC news website. The story was initially made for the television program Dateline, but the important points of the story were recorded in the form of an internet article.

This story covers an interesting case of a man name Stephen who was accused of murdering his girlfriend. However, Stephen claimed that he did so while he was sleepwalking. The article calls upon a major psychological question; while it is known that people, can walk, talk, and drive in their sleep, is it actually possible to kill someone while sleeping? The article is written as an interview with the victim’s niece, Lannelle Piro. Keith Morrison asks very interesting questions that require Piro to characterize Stephen in order to determine what had actually happened the night of the murder.

Sleep walking is an interesting defense for murder because people who typically function in their sleep remember little of what had occurred during the night and are not able to control what they do or say. A 2004 psychology article entitled “Sleepwalking Violence: A Sleep Disorder, a Legal Dilemma, and a Psychological Challenge” discusses this precise problem. The study found that sleepwalking violence is a distinct overlap disorder with common disturbed psychological functioning during and for a period up to one hour following an aggressive episode (Cartwright, 2004). Essentially, this means that violent sleepwalking episodes are typically an unanticipated consequence of conscious anger. As a consequence, this case falls into the realm of abnormal psychology because it defines an unusual behavior with a strange consequence.

I believe that it is difficult to justify whether a person who murdered someone in their sleep in guilty, but there are some circumstances that can define the guilt. For example, someone who has a history of sleepwalking and is known to have anger issues should be responsible for seeking medical assistance for the sleepwalking and psychological counseling to alleviate the anger issues. Since there is evidence that there is a link between anger and violent sleepwalking, it may be necessary to legally require people who cannot control their actions when they sleep to seek medical assistance or to educate them on the consequences of failing to do so. Once individuals are properly educated on the potential negative outcomes and sleepwalking, they are responsible for ensuring that this does not occur; if they commit a crime while they are asleep, they are knowingly neglecting their responsibility towards those around them and deserve to be sentenced because in a way, this means they are intentionally hurting others. While there are likely to be exceptions to the rule, it is necessary to further define this abnormal behavior and try to find ways to protect innocent people against its potentially harmful effects.

In this particular case, it is currently unknown whether Stephen has a history of violent sleepwalking. Regardless, this was a sad and avoidable case and Stephen should be responsible for his actions. Hopefully this case will set precedent in the court and initiate knowledge about this behavior and encourage people to take action to prevent it.

References

Cartwright R. (2004). Sleepwalking Violence: A Sleep Disorder, a Legal Dilemma, and a Psychological Challenge. American Journal of Psychiatry. Retrieved from http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/data/Journals/AJP/3762/1149.pdf

Fonesca F. (2014). Sensational Murder Case in Arizona Draws to Close. ABC News. Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/sensational-murder-case-arizona-draws-close-21471657

Morrison K. (2009). Deadly Dreams. NBC News. Retrieved from  http://www.nbcnews.com/id/29658353/ns/dateline_nbc-crime_reports/t/deadly-  dreams/#.Us-bdfRDuYI