Sigmund Freud: Forensic Psychiatrist

As a forensic psychiatrist, I have written extensively about my own routine application of psychiatric and psychoanalytic principles to my practice. 1-7 However, until very recently, I was unaware that Freud, in addition to supplying the indispensable theoretical underpinning, had made direct contributions to forensic psychiatry. Sigmund Freud requires no introduction. His theories and their therapeutic applications, the history of his movement, and his own biography are familiar fixtures in the cultural landscape. There is no region of the intellectual or social life of mankind that has not received some measure of attention in his writings. Thus it is no surprise, although not heretofore acknowledged, that Freud made infrequent ventures into that specialized interface between psychiatry and the law, forensic psychiatry. In four of his writings, Freud dealt with issues that still interest and challenge forensic psychiatrists. These were: Theoretical • Psychoanalysis and the Establishment of the Facts in Legal Proceedings (TatbestandsdiaRnostik und Psychoanalyse)8 • Some Character-Types Met with in Psychoanalytic Work: Chapter III: Criminals from a Sense of Guilt (Einige Charakter Typen aus der psychoanalytischen Arbeifr' Practical Applications • The Expert Opinion in the Halsmann Case (Das Fakultatsgutachten im Prozess Halsmann)1O • .. Memorandum for the Defense" (A psychiatric report written in a temporary insanity case) (Not extant) In these forensic psychiatry writings, Freud made some original contributions, outlined areas for future investigation, and constantly advanced the thesis that" Psychology is a knife that cuts both ways "II and therefore that psychoanalytic principles should be applied very cautiously (if at all) in legal proceedings. I will briefly outline the scope of each of these productions in order to delineate the substance of Freud's contributions to forensic psychiatry.