Gender, Murder and Madness 1

Psychiatric decisions play a key role in the outcome of a homicide case. Particularly where defendants are diagnosed with a mental illness, psychiatric considerations are significant for the verdict and subsequent disposal of the case. As many feminist and legal writers have pointed out, however, these considerations are mediated by gendered assumptions of how madness ² is constituted and the effects it has on the defendant’s behaviour. This chapter examines the connection between gender, murder and psychiatric decisions by focusing on homicide cases in England and Wales where defendants have been diagnosed with a mental illness. In such cases, the defendant typically enters a plea of diminished responsibility, which, if successful, reduces a charge of murder to manslaughter.