Zachary 1

Danielle Zachary
Dr. Guenzel
ENC 1102- OM31
04/03/19

“Commentary: Postpartum Psychosis, Infanticide, and Insanity—Implications for Forensic

Psychiatry”: A Rhetorical Analysis

The research question I have proposed is how different types of individuals with certain

stigma/diagnosis are treated throughout the insanity defense process. The individuals I am

looking into are cultists, sexual offenders, and serial killers. I am also looking at how gender

plays a role with bias in the court system during the insanity defense. These are known as my

perspectives and for my essay, I will be combining the research I have learnt from these three

perspectives to create an essay that answers my research question and provides the reader with

information about my topic. For one of my sources, I will provide an in-depth analysis about

what the author(s) are trying to convey and if they get their message across. I will also describe

how this source relates to my overall research question and how it affects my overall research.

The source I am choosing to write about is titled, " Commentary: Postpartum Psychosis,

Infanticide, and Insanity- Implications for Forensic Psychiatry." by Susan Hatters Friedman and

Renée Sorrentino. Susan Hatters Friedman is a psychiatrist that specializes in forensic psychiatry

in Ohio. Renée Sorrentino practices psychiatry at Mass General Hospital in Massachusetts. She

is also the medical director at the Institute For Sexual Wellness and Assistant Professor in

Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. This helps establish credibility/ethos for the authors.

Since they are well respected psychologists/psychiatrists, they are known to be resolute in their
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fields of science. The article they posted is a commentary, which means they are more

commenting and voicing their opinion on a situation other than conducting an experiment and

researching things. They are talking about Postpartum Psychosis and the things that concern it,

such as infanticide and insanity. Their commentary was published in the Journal of the American

Academy of Psychiatry and the Law in 2012, which is a high honor in the realm of psychiatry

and/or law. The topic of Postpartum illness is a controversial one because it mostly concerns

women and their biology after giving birth. Men can get Postpartum Depression, but it is

extremely rare and usually occurs in women after birth.

The article talks in great length about Postpartum Psychosis and its history. It has to be

noted that PPP is different than Postpartum Depression, with the latter only involving low moods

instead of psychosis. PPP is a mental condition where after giving birth, the mother begins to go

into a state of confusion and psychosis and has hallucinations and delusions. The article gives an

in-depth look into what it’s like to have Postpartum Psychosis. “Delusions, in contrast to those in

schizophrenia, often evolve quickly and may center on the infant, the focal point of the mother's

life. Delusions that the baby is evil or not hers elevate risk of harm.” (Friedman and Sorrentino

326). This means that people with PPP can see their children as a threat to them and potentially

cause them harm, even death. An example of this would be in the case of Andrea Yates, a mother

of five, who drowned all her children in the bath because she thought that in doing so she would

save them from going to hell. She was diagnosed with Postpartum Psychosis and a mild form of

schizophrenia. She plead the insanity defense and was found not guilty by reason of insanity.

The article the authors published was credited with only 14 citations. This is a low

number for published work, but it does not mean that it isn’t important in its field. Conveying

your point properly and effectively is all you need to do to help revolutionize your field of
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science. If people are reading your work, even small amounts, they will still take what you say

into consideration and use it in their own research. You are contributing to the bigger picture,

and no matter how small it is, it still counts.

The abstract that is provided that summarizes the essay is quite long and talks about the

infanticide and postpartum psychosis (PPP) and how it is treated in the United States. The United

States views infanticide by postpartum psychosis as more of a crime than a mental illness act of

violence. Postpartum psychosis is a real mental condition but in the Diagnostic and Statistical

Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), the guideline book of mental disorders, it is not included

with a diagnosis. This essay aims to talk about infanticide, mental illness, and postpartum

psychosis, and to spread awareness about the dangers of PPP.

Infanticide is where a person intentionally kills an infant. There are several laws that

were enacted to lessen the severity of the charge that is brought upon the mother who kills their

child in a psychotic state. In cases where the individual pleads NGRI it is important to figure out

if the person actually is mentally incompetent at the time of the killing. These laws are put and

apply to the mentally ill, which allows for a heavy process in finding out if the murder was due

to insanity. If these laws were more lenient, random people would be pleading NGRI, but are not

actually insane and killing their kids.

The purpose of this text is not to harass, but more to inform about the issue of Postpartum

Psychosis. It is a commentary, and as said above it aims to comment on certain issues. Sorrentino

and Friedman are experts in their fields and they were the ones that did all the research they

could into this subject, so they could present their opinion in this text. After reading their

commentary, they want the reader to spread the information they learned and get the word out

about how serious PPP is. At the end of the text under the subheading titled “Recommendations
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for Forensic Psychiatrists Evaluating Infanticide Cases” they are giving recommendations and

providing advice for the psychiatrists that looking infanticide cases. they want these people to

know how unique PPP is and that it is a medical condition that should be taken seriously.

This source relates to my research question about gender and how it is biased in determining if

how NGRI goes through. “Successful NGRI defendants are more often older, female, better

educated, and single, with a history of hospitalization.” (Friedman and Sorrentino 329). This

quote from the article provides you with a look at how the NGRI succeeds and who is more

likely to benefit from it. Saying that an older female is more likely to appeal successful in the

NGRI plea helps me look at how gender is affected in the insanity plea. If it is saying that certain

types of females with certain characteristics are more likely to successfully plea insanity, does

that mean that there are more females than males pleading insane? This poses an interesting

question that cannot be answered alone in this article. More research will be needed to figure out

how gender is affected, but this article helps me along the way.

Since my research question is looking into the insanity part of PPP, most of my

information for my actual research essay comes from the subheading titled, “Insanity, Motive,

and Child Murder by Mothers.” This subheading is important to my source because it can help

strengthen my argument about the insanity differences in the genders and how they reside in the

case of insanity. This source is a little bit biased when it comes to laws concerning infanticide. It

is biased because the authors call out the government and the laws concerning infanticide.

“Criticisms of infanticide laws include inherent gender bias, diminished value of the infant’s life,

and unnecessary overlap with a sufficient insanity defense.” (Friedman and Sorrentino 327). This

lists the numerous reasons why the United States fails to use the infanticide laws correctly and

fails to successfully intertwine them with the insanity plea. The target of the article is mainly
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forensic psychiatrists and the general people who want to know more about PPP. The article

provides a good job doing so.

Any mental illness should be taken seriously, no matter what it is and who it is happening

to. In the case of Postpartum Psychosis, the individual is out of touch with reality and

themselves. This can lead to life-threatening situations that can cause only harm to the individual

and others. The article that Friedman and Sorrentino put together is to provide information to the

public about how urgent a problem PPP is. They provide us with proper facts and evidence and

give a solid case as to why you should take this matter seriously. After reading this article, I am

more well-informed about PPP and I aim to use this information to help with my research

question with the question of gender in the NGRI plea.

Work Cited

Friedman, Susan Hatters, And Renee Sorrentino. “Commentary: Postpartum Psychosis,

Infanticide, And Insanity-Implications For Forensic Psychiatry.” Journal Of The

American Academy Of Psychiatry And The Law, vol. 40, no. 3, 2012, Pp. 326–

332. Ebscohost,

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