One of the great debates in criminology and psychiatry is whether criminals should be viewed as mental health problems or whether they should be viewed as “bad.” Philosophical considerations aside, the question often becomes a practical one of whether or not offenders are modifiable or “treatable” using methods developed in psychiatric institutions. Some serious offenders, of course, do appear ...

The recent plane crash caused by the pilot increased the interest in the possibility of medical examination, which would be able to detect the intention of committing suicide. The development of such a diagnostic procedure is not only important for the prevention of events in the civil and military aviation, but also due to increase in the incidence of various suicide terrorist acts. The author...

The recent forensic psychiatry literature has focused on such areas as compentency to stand trial and the insanity plea. Very little attention has been given to the pre-sentence psychiatric evaluation particularly from a research point of view. Such information as demographic data on the defendants examined and the role the psychiatric report plays in the sentencing process is both unclear and ...

The past 20 years have seen a remarkable development of neuroimaging methodologies that allow fine-tuned examination of abnormalities in the structure and function of neural circuitry, supporting cognition and emotion in individuals with psychiatric disorders. This editorial highlights the potential of neuroimaging to address major challenges in psychiatric clinical practice.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the development of psychosomatic medicine at our university hospital in Istanbul, which has an inpatient capacity of 3,000. Changing patterns of utilization of psychiatric service were analyzed in two 1-year surveys five-year intervals (1998, n=888) - (2003, n=1609). Psychiatric referrals were analyzed with regard to rate of consultation, demographic ch...