11 Jun 22
The post that was quoted here has been removedYou are mistaken.
[1] Mental illness is being blamed time and time again in the "culture war" and is clearly a GOP/NRA talking point.
[2] Mental illness clearly has legal and moral implications in terms of how blame and responsibility for crime is apportioned.
The post that was quoted here has been removedUse this statement, if you want to, to write an OP that seeks to examine the link between morality and crime in the context of the current posturing by political spokespeople for arms manufacturers in the US who are pointing to mental health issues.
The post that was quoted here has been removedWell, it is, nevetheless, a hypothetical. The question is as follows: If it were to be true, what would the implications be for the stance of religious people who assert that the level of violence in society is caused by moral decline?
11 Jun 22
@fmf saidIt's more likely attributable to an assault weapons ban imposed during the Clinton administration.
"In the United States, for example, violent crime rates have fallen by over 50% in many major U.S. cities since these rates peaked in the early 1990s, often referred to as the "Great Crime Decline". In New York City, these rates had dropped by 75% from the early 1990s to 2010." [wiki]
Was this "Great Crime Decline" linked in any way to an improvement in morality?
@suzianne saidIf I am not mistaken, that assault weapons ban led to a rapid decrease in mass shootings, just as, when the ban was reversed, there was a tripling in the number of mass shootings. I don't think the ban explains the so-called "Great Crime Decline" which was a broader phenomenon that went beyond the use of assault weapons.
It's more likely attributable to an assault weapons ban imposed during the Clinton administration.
@divegeester saidDoesn't that also apply to all prisons, irrespective of mental health status?
People housed in places like Broadmoor hospital are not incarcerated there because they felt compelled to do nice things to people.
I get that this thread was based on a hypothetical question, but putting that question in quotation marks (implying somebody had actually said it) was misguided, especially as mental health is already greatly stigmatized and misunderstood.