Drug addiction and criminal responsibility

Jeanette Kennett*, Nicole A. Vincent, Anke Snoek

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

    17 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Recent studies reveal some of the neurophysiological mechanisms involved in drug addiction. This prompts some theorists to claim that drug addiction diminishes responsibility. Stephen Morse however rejects this claim. Morse argues that these studies show that drug addiction involves neither compulsion, coercion, nor irrationality. He also adds that addicted people are responsible for becoming addicted and for failing to take measures to manage their addiction. After summarizing relevant neuroscience of addiction literature, this chapter engages critically with Morse to argue that a subgroup of addicted people does meet plausible criteria for compulsion, coercion, or irrationality; that few addicted people are fully responsible for becoming addicted; and that some addicted people can be at least partly excused for failing to manage their addiction. Pickard and Lacey’s “responsibility without blame” approach is also suggested as a fruitful basis for future work in this field.

    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationHandbook of Neuroethics
    EditorsJens Clausen, Neil Levy
    Place of PublicationDordrecht
    PublisherSpringer, Springer Nature
    Pages1065-1084
    Number of pages20
    ISBN (Electronic)9789400747074
    ISBN (Print)9789400747067
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2015

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