NCJ Number
152572
Date Published
1993
Length
173 pages
Annotation
This book examines the interpretation and the limitations of psychiatric evidence in court proceedings.
Abstract
The five chapters in the first section are concerned with the language of psychiatry and its limitations. One chapter considers some of the general problems associated with the use of descriptive terms and diagnostic labels. Another chapter addresses the theoretical constructs that lie behind the terms and labels. Three chapters discuss three diagnostic categories of particular relevance to forensic psychiatry: schizophrenia, depression, and psychopathy. A historical approach is used to highlight changes in the meanings of these concepts over time. The author notes that general psychiatry and forensic psychiatry are different in many ways. In both settings, the psychiatrist is endeavoring to build up a picture of the state of a person's mind; however, the referral process, the client, the purpose of the assessment, the circumstances under which the assessment is conducted, the nature of the final report, and the use to which it will be put are different. The second section of this book considers how these differences might influence the two people involved in the assessment -- the psychiatrist and the person being assessed -- and how they might affect the assessment process. One chapter examines the connection between mental disorder and criminal behavior, followed by three chapters that focus on dangerousness. These chapters discuss the concept of dangerousness, mental disorder and dangerousness, and the prediction of dangerousness. Chapter notes, a 149-item bibliography, and a subject index