This assignment supports this unit’s readings and discussions on forensic mental health, and specifically the insanity defense. The insanity defense generally relates to those considered to not be of a sound mind at the time that they commit their offense. This assignment will explore different aspects of the insanity defense.

By successfully completing this assignment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies:

Describe the field of forensic psychology.
Describe how a forensic evaluator would determine whether the legal criteria for an insanity defense are met for the cases in the news articles.
Apply psychological principles to topics in forensic psychology.
Describe an appropriate claim for each situation found in the news articles.
Describe the clues that might indicate a mental impairment in both cases in the news articles.
Apply scholarly research findings to topics in forensic psychology.
Describe the relationship between mental health and the legal system.
Apply psychological and legal ethics in the field of forensic psychology.
Describe the ethical concerns involved in both cases in the news articles.
Communicate in a manner that is scholarly, professional, and consistent with expectations for professionals in the field of psychology.
Communicate clearly with appropriate purpose, organization, tone, and sentence structure.
Cite the source using author and year.
Assignment Instructions
From recent news publications, select two individuals with mental health issues who were involved in a forensic mental health situation, or who could have been involved given the circumstances surrounding the incident. Citing information from news articles and your readings for this unit, write a paper in which you complete the following for each case:

Describe an appropriate claim for each situation found in the news articles (for example, competency to stand trial, insanity).
Describe the clues from the news articles that might indicate a mental impairment in both cases.
Describe how a forensic evaluator would determine whether the legal criteria for an insanity defense were met in both cases, using information from the unit readings.
Describe the relationship between mental health and the legal system, using your course readings and the news articles.
Describe the ethical concerns involved in both cases in the news articles.
Communicate clearly with appropriate purpose, organization, tone, and sentence structure.
Cite the source using author and year.
Submission Requirements
Written communication: Written communication is in professional style with correct grammar, usage, and mechanics.
Resources: Use two current news articles.
APA formatting: Resources and citations are formatted according to APA style and formatting.
Length: 3 double-spaced, typed pages.
Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point.
SafeAssign: Use the SafeAssign Draft option to check your writing and ensure that you have paraphrased, quoted, and cited your sources appropriately. Run a SafeAssign report, saving your paper as a draft. Based on your SafeAssign results, make any necessary changes to your paper before submitting your assignment to your instructor for grading.
Refer to the Forensic Mental Health: The Insanity Defense Scoring Guide to ensure that you meet the grading criteria for this assignment.

You are urged to use the Smarthinking resource in the Capella University Writing Center, a resource that will help you develop clear and effective writing. With this resource, you will be able to receive feedback on your writing, use writing resources, discover new writing strategies, and explore different ways to draft, revise, edit, and proofread your own work.