Multiple Personality Disorder, Accountable Agency, and Criminal Acts
نویسندگان
چکیده
Smedley Wormwood is an accountant who is indicted for embezzling funds from the company for which he works. He generally presents an impression of an unobtrusive, conventional, compliant, “vanilla” individual. When his lawyer interviews him about the charges, Smedley seems innocent, frightened, and bewildered. In discussing the details of events around the time of the alleged crime, Smedley becomes somewhat vague and then admits to some lapses in recall. Smedley then startles the lawyer by apparently undergoing a marked change in attitude, tone of voice, and apparent self-identity. The lawyer realizes that she is now discussing the crime with a confident, angry, arrogant client who identifies himself as Slick and announces that he took the money this time, just as he has before. Slick describes prior crimes of various types and laughs about the possibility that “the worm” will be convicted and punished for this episode.
منابع مشابه
Commentary: personality disorders and criminal law.
The history of the personality-disorder diagnosis in law and psychiatry-in particular, the antisocial personality disorder-is recounted along with the arguments of renowned forensic psychiatrists as well as public opinion. Jurisdictions around the world are divided on the impact of the diagnosis on criminal responsibility or on sentencing.
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