Criminological Diagnosis - Forensic Psychiatry (From Criminological Diagnosis - An International Perspective, P 179-186, 1983, Franco Ferracuti and Marvin E Wolfgang, ed. - See NCJ-90506)

• NCJ Number: 90513
• Author(s): N Christie
• Date Published: 1983
• Length: 8 pages
• Sale Source: Lexington Books
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

In becoming a servant of the criminal justice system, the forensic psychiatrist constantly loses touch with the normal role of a physician, which is to act in the best interests of the patient.

Abstract

The forensic psychiatrist acts to strengthen society's grip on the deviant person and inflicts increased suffering on the individual. In addition, the psychiatrist plays a markedly subservient role within the legal system, in that the psychiatrist's declarations put people into institutions, but he/she is largely powerless at getting them out. Although some forensic psychiatrists protest that their actions are intended to help the client who is suffering from a psychic defect, forensic psychiatry is essentially a diagnostic technique, with little attention to treatment based on diagnosis. The forensic psychiatrist's prescriptions usually lead to the imposition of measures of indefinite duration, which imposes additional psychic suffering on the detained person. There are also indications that the diagnosis itself puts a label on the client that hampers resocialization. If psychiatrists have something to offer as alleviators of suffering, solvers of inner conflicts, and guides to self-understanding, then they should not be handicapped by making them responsible for mandating sanctions applied in the interest of others rather than the client. Two notes are listed.