The use of psychiatric diagnoses in the legal process: task force report of the American Psychiatric Association.

In recent years, our legal system has increasingly called upon psychiatrists to help resolve legal conflicts.' There are many reasons for this trend. including increased complexity of problems facing the law. greater sophistication of the legal system, heightened public awareness of mental illness, expansion of laws concerning mental illness and disability, and an expansion of the knowledge base in the mental health field. It is also likely that the American Psychiatric Association's publication in 1980 of a reliable and widely accepted diagnostic nomenclature (DSM-111)' has encouraged courts to rely more heavily on psychiatric expertise. Whatever the reasons, there is an increased demand for psychiatric testimony and formal diagnostic terminology has appeared with greater frequency in testimony. The use of psychiatric diagnoses in