Summary: The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), which is essentially psychiatry's encyclopedia of mental disorders, is currently being revised. George Will points out how many of the new "disorders" being added to the DSM are in actuality simple moral flaws. Newly classified disorders like "Narcissistic personality disorder" were once seen as personality flaws (in the case of narcissistic personality disorder, being full of oneself). Will writes that by classifying new diseases, the DSM is giving people an excuse to indulge in immoral behavior, for they can hide behind their vices as a "disease" that they can do nothing about.
Opinion: A think that George Will has pointed out a big problem in today's society. When people exhibit character blemishes, or even commit crimes, it is their fault--not some sort of societal abuse that caused them to do so. Yes, there may be scientific evidence to suggest that some sorts of poor behavior are more prone to be exuded from some people than from others, but this is still no excuse to indulge in that wrong behavior. People need to start taking more personal responsibility for their actions and moral behavior instead of hiding behind the façade of a "disability" or shifting responsibility onto "societal abuse".
Link: http://townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeWill/2010/02/28/a_cure_for_character?page=2
I agree. There is no grey area here, especially in the instances of crimes. Either someone is guilty or innocent, they committed the crime or not. There are obviously some people who are not at entire fault for what they've done, but the fact remains that they did it, and should be punished accordingly.
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