Appropriate Criminal Response to Criminals with Depression

Depression as the most prevalent mental disorder affects millions of people around the world. According to previous studies, people who suffer from depression commit violent crimes three times more than normal people. In addition, they are five to six times more at risk of harming themselves than normal people. Therefore, considering the positive and significant effect of depression on committing crimes, the present study aimed to answer the question of what is the appropriate criminal response to this group of criminals.

In this article, the descriptive-analytical method is used to achieve the goal of the research.

Ethical Considerations: 

The authors of the present study tried to observe scientific honesty and original references.

The main finding of this study was that there is an intermediate level between complete wisdom and insanity, in which depression is placed. Since the inner world of depressed criminals is strongly influenced by this disorder, it is of great importance how to apply the art of punishment and criminal response to this group of criminals; otherwise, this can result in consequences such as suicide, harming others, deterioration of the disorder, and failure to meet the purpose of punishment.

This group of criminals should get advantage of the "diminished criminal responsibility". This study not only indicated the inadequacy of imprisonment and whipping as the most common punishment in Iran for criminals with depression but also showed that, from a prescriptive viewpoint, the most appropriate criminal response for criminals with depression is sentence to therapeutic measures under security measures. Such measures need to be applied along with the requirement of the court to commutate punishment and sentence to probation or or alternative punishments of imprisonment considering the characteristics and conditions of criminals.