Folie où es-tu?: Libre dissertation critique sur la responsabilisation des psychotiques

Abstract: Critical analysis of the psychiatric reports of psychotic criminals attached by order to hospitals demonstrates the partial responsibility of these patients (second paragraph of Article 122-1 of the French Penal Code), whereas there is a direct ascertained relation between their mental disorders and their homicidal acts. The current tendency to sentence psychotic patients has led to their increasing numbers in prisons, where they pose serious problems of management and discipline. The author recalls that « madness » can be « lucid », that psychotic individuals do not lose all contact with reality, that they are capable of dissimulating their disorders and that they can sometimes premeditate their criminal acts. Even so, they are not really conscious of the pathological nature of their behavior. Furthermore, their responsibility is legally not involved since there is no moral element to their criminal acts. Psychiatrists and psychologists should change their archaic practices and use the modern actuarial methods of diagnostic and prognostic assessment. Delinquent individuals suffering from severe mental disorders should not be sentenced and imprisoned. Rather, they should receive medical treatment and be under conditions and supervision. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]