Volume 18, Issue 59 (4-2024)
MLJ 2024, 18(59): 716-735 |
Back to browse issues page
Download citation:
BibTeX | RIS | EndNote | Medlars | ProCite | Reference Manager | RefWorks
Send citation to:
BibTeX | RIS | EndNote | Medlars | ProCite | Reference Manager | RefWorks
Send citation to:
Yousefi M M, Ramezan Saatchi L. Comparison of Criminal Insanity and Mental Disorders. MLJ 2024; 18 (59) :716-735
URL: http://ijmedicallaw.ir/article-1-1631-en.html
URL: http://ijmedicallaw.ir/article-1-1631-en.html
1- Department of Law and Psychology, Judiciary Research Institute, Tehran, Iran.
Abstract:
Background and Aim: While according to the law, the diagnosis of insanity is made by a specialist in mental diseases, the difference in diagnostic goals and specialized literature in the two fields of law and medicine has caused difficulties in the implementation of the legislator's intention. Aside from the complex nature of insanity that makes diagnosis elusive, many other problems make it even more difficult; Problems such as the periodicity and fluctuation of mental abnormalities, the long time interval between the commission of a crime and the mental assessment, the multiplicity of functional areas and the alienation of the two areas of law and psychiatric knowledge. In this article, we have tried to reduce the inconsistency of the conceptual space of insanity in both criminal and medical fields by comparing legal insanity and psychiatric disorders.
Method: This research was written using the analytical descriptive method and using library resources.
Ethical Considerations: Ethical principles and maintaining the principle of trustworthiness have been observed in this research.
Results: None of the classes of psychiatric disorders can be considered equivalent to criminal insanity. At the same time, executive functions are disturbed and confused in a wide range of disorders, without having the conditions of criminal insanity.
Conclusion: Due to non-specificity and lack of diagnostic function, executive functions cannot be a definitive criterion for the diagnosis of insanity. As a result, diagnosis and decision-making about insanity still rely significantly on the clinical evaluation and diagnosis of a forensic psychiatrist. The indecisiveness of Iran's legal and judicial system in choosing the medical approach or the public security approach further fuels the lack of transparency in this matter.
Please cite this article as:
Yousefi MM, Ramezan Saatchi L. Comparison of Criminal Insanity and Mental Disorders. Medical Law Journal. 2024; 18: e49.
Method: This research was written using the analytical descriptive method and using library resources.
Ethical Considerations: Ethical principles and maintaining the principle of trustworthiness have been observed in this research.
Results: None of the classes of psychiatric disorders can be considered equivalent to criminal insanity. At the same time, executive functions are disturbed and confused in a wide range of disorders, without having the conditions of criminal insanity.
Conclusion: Due to non-specificity and lack of diagnostic function, executive functions cannot be a definitive criterion for the diagnosis of insanity. As a result, diagnosis and decision-making about insanity still rely significantly on the clinical evaluation and diagnosis of a forensic psychiatrist. The indecisiveness of Iran's legal and judicial system in choosing the medical approach or the public security approach further fuels the lack of transparency in this matter.
Please cite this article as:
Yousefi MM, Ramezan Saatchi L. Comparison of Criminal Insanity and Mental Disorders. Medical Law Journal. 2024; 18: e49.
Keywords: Insanity, Mental Disorder, Volition, Criminal Liability, Criminal Psychology, Forensic Psychology
Type of Study: Original Article |
Received: 2023/04/2 | Accepted: 2024/01/2
Received: 2023/04/2 | Accepted: 2024/01/2
Send email to the article author
| Rights and permissions | |
 |
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. |
