Psychiatry and Criminal Law

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.

Commentary: responsibility and insurance coverage of the mentally ill.

Should criminal law principles be applied to life insurance claims made by the beneficiaries of an insured person who commits suicide? Any discussion of the criminal law and the M'Naghten test of criminal responsibility, as sometimes used by the courts and recommended by the authors, obfuscates the resolution of contemporary issues.

An attempt at a re-evaluation of some concepts of law and psychiatry.

Morality, equality, and expertise: renegotiating the relationship between psychiatry and the criminal law.

Not since the 1950s has there been such great ferment in the relationship between psychiatry and the criminal law . Hardly a day passes without some new declaration of wisdom by the bar, one of the mental health professions, or some legislative committee or task force. In the courts, issues concerning the admissibility and scope of opinion testimony by mental health professionals are being liti...

Rehabilitation center; psychiatry and group therapy.