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Accountability and psychiatric disorders: how do forensic psychiatric professionals think?
- Source :
-
International journal of law and psychiatry [Int J Law Psychiatry] 2009 Nov-Dec; Vol. 32 (6), pp. 355-61. Date of Electronic Publication: 2009 Oct 06. - Publication Year :
- 2009
-
Abstract
- Swedish penal law does not exculpate on the grounds of diminished accountability; persons judged to suffer from severe mental disorder are sentenced to forensic psychiatric care instead of prison. Re-introduction of accountability as a condition for legal responsibility has been advocated, not least by forensic psychiatric professionals. To investigate how professionals in forensic psychiatry would assess degree of accountability based on psychiatric diagnoses and case vignettes, 30 psychiatrists, 30 psychologists, 45 nurses, and 45 ward attendants from five forensic psychiatric clinics were interviewed. They were asked (i) to judge to which degree (on a dimensional scale from 1 to 5) each of 12 psychiatric diagnoses might affect accountability, (ii) to assess accountability from five case vignettes, and (iii) to list further factors they regarded as relevant for their assessment of accountability. All informants accepted to provide a dimensional assessment of accountability on this basis and consistently found most types of mental disorders to reduce accountability, especially psychotic disorders and dementia. Other factors thought to be relevant were substance abuse, social network, personality traits, social stress, and level of education.
- Subjects :
- Adult
Alcoholism diagnosis
Alcoholism psychology
Character
Commitment of Mentally Ill legislation & jurisprudence
Comorbidity
Dementia diagnosis
Dementia psychology
Educational Status
Humans
Life Change Events
Male
Mental Disorders psychology
Middle Aged
Patient Care Team
Personality Disorders diagnosis
Personality Disorders psychology
Psychotic Disorders diagnosis
Psychotic Disorders psychology
Social Support
Substance-Related Disorders diagnosis
Substance-Related Disorders psychology
Sweden
Attitude of Health Personnel
Forensic Psychiatry
Insanity Defense
Mental Competency legislation & jurisprudence
Mental Disorders diagnosis
Social Responsibility
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1873-6386
- Volume :
- 32
- Issue :
- 6
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- International journal of law and psychiatry
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 19811835
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlp.2009.09.004