Oregon's forensic psychiatry hospital experienced a convulsing chain of events that began with the escape of an insanity acquittee who had been hospitalized following two murders. Although the patient was arrested without reoffending, there were major repercussions in the hospital. This event and related state hospital topics became the subject of intense publicity in the local newspaper. Artic...

BACKGROUND Randomised trials remain the gold standard for evaluating health interventions. This applies to the criminal justice system as well as to health. AIMS To identify and survey randomised trials relevant to forensic mental health services. METHOD We searched 29 electronic bibliographic databases and acquired randomised trials involving sex offenders, arsonists or people clearly and ...

This article offers a justification for a set of principles that constitute the ethical underpinnings of forensic psychiatry. Like professional ethics in general, the principles are based on the particular societal functions performed by forensic psychiatrists and result in the intensification of obligations to promote certain important moral values. For forensic psychiatrists, the primary valu...

The forensic psychiatrist's task is often considered to be tightly connected to the concept of free will. Yet, there is also a lack of clarity about the role of the concept of free will in forensic psychiatry. Recently, Morse has argued that forensic psychiatrists should not mention free will in their reports or testimonies, and, moreover, that they should not even think about free will. Starti...

Forensic psychiatry expertise may be useful to criminal courts in several ways, including evaluating competence (e.g., to stand trial, waive Miranda rights, confess, plead, represent oneself, or be sentenced), assessing responsibility for alleged criminal behavior, and clarifying mental or psychosocial factors that may mitigate criminal charges or the form and severity of punishment. This colum...

OBJECTIVE Review the most relevant ethical issues of the tripartite aspects on which forensic psychiatry is based: expert activity, treatment of the mentally ill in prisons, and research on prisoner subjects. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The principles of General Medical Ethics and those of Forensic Medical Ethics are discriminated and confronted and the steps the psychiatrist should take both as a...