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La responsabilità professionale dello psichiatra e la dimostrazione del nesso di causalità
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"La perizia psichiatrica in tema di valutazione della capacità di intendere e di volere nell'imputato adulto"
No full textLa psichiatria forense e il “vizio di mente”: criticità attuali e prospettive metodologiche
No full textIn the last decades the concept of « infirmity » has been much debated in connection
with rules 88 and 89 of the Italian criminal code, fueled by the lack of a
single shared interpretation of such expression, which essentially originates from
the difficult relationship between law and psychiatry: the first one regards psychiatry
as a stable and rational foundation for decision-making, the second one attempts
to combine the uncertainties of its clinic dimensions with the needs of legal
certainty.
This discussion has led to unavoidable side effects involving the cooperation
between scientific knowledge and the judge, who has gradually found himself torn
between different orientations, with inevitable differences of interpretation and application
of the law. In particular, following the epistemological-methodological
evolution that has characterized the history of modern psychiatry, the jurisprudence
has showed a sort of dichotomy about the the concept of infirmity.
This development has undergone a major review by the United Sections of
the Supreme Criminal Court, n. 9163/2005 which not only clarified the conflict
about the interpretation of « infirmity », but also gave an opportunity to develop
a systematic review of criminal responsibility.
The Authors analyze, in particular, how this development has influenced forensic
psychiatry as to provide pragmatic criteria for a methodology usable in practice
by the experts in this difficult field of investigation
Behavioral neurobiology in forensic psychiatry: problems and prospects
No full textBackground
In recent decades, considerable progress has been made in the study of the biological bases of violent behavior, so much so as to rekindle a heated debate on the notions of “free will” and “criminal responsibility”. These questions gained renewed prominence in Italy after the sentence of a criminal Court that decided to admit a “diminished responsibility defense” because the offender was found to be carrier of a few genetic variants that were thought to be associated with a predisposition to violence.
Case report
An adult female was charged with the murder of her sister. The first forensic psychiatric report excluded the presence of a mental disorder, so she was assessed responsible. A second forensic psychiatric evaluation took place, including: (1) psychometric assessment (MMPI-2 & PPI-R); (2) neuropsychological examination; (3) morphometric analysis with VBM and (4) genetic analysis of DNA aimed at identifying genetic polymorphisms associated with violence. The final report picked out the presence of a multiple personality disorder and of abnormalities in brain-imaging scans and in five genes that have been linked to violent behavior. The Court ruled a sentence of “diminished responsibility” arguing that the defendant's genes “would make her particularly reactive and vulnerable to aggressiveness in stressful situations”.
Discussion
A growing number of researches have investigated the relationship between biogenetics and violent behavior. In particular, recent studies have combined behavioral genetics and functional brain imaging with the rationale that specific polymorphisms may lead to brain changes which, in turn, may increase vulnerability to various forms of violent behavior. A critical next step in testing this ‘‘from genes to brain to violent behavior’’ hypothesis is to identify the role of the environment (epigenetics).
Conclusion
The use of neuroscience and behavioral genetics is increasingly considered potentially useful in providing objective data on the assessment of a defendant’s criminal competence. From a forensic psychiatric standpoint, nonetheless, it must be remembered that the necessary conditions whereby a mental disorder can take on the meaning of “insanity” should be that it has caused, in the specific case, such mental impairment as to compromise the capacity for cognition and/or volition and that it was causally linked with the crime
Fondamenti di Psicopatologia Forense. Problemi di metodo e prospettive di sviluppo delle consulenze psicologiche e psichiatriche in ambito giudiziario
No full textDelinquenza giovanile. Analisi di un processo di stigmatizzazione e di esclusione (Terza edizione)
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