Θα μπορούσαμε εύκολα να τραβήξουμε μια κοφτή γραμμή ανάμεσα στην αρρώστια και στο έγκλημα; Ανάμεσα στο βιολογικό και στο ψυχολογικό;
Σε περασμένες δεκαετίες συχνά οι εγκληματίες χαρακτηρίζονταν ως ψυχικά ασθενείς και το δικαστήριο τους αθώωνε ως τρελούς (περίπτωση του Ντάρχαμ 1954). Ειδεχθή εγκλήματα που σόκαραν την κοινωνία μας τα τελευταία χρόνια, δεν φαίνεται να σχετίζονται με ψυχικές νόσους. Ωστόσο το ερώτημα παραμένει: Ψυχασθενής ή εγκληματίας; Οι εποχές που οι σχιζοφενείς κλείνονταν σε ψυχιατρεία έχουν παρέλθει, αλλά η σχιζοφρένεια περιφέρεται παντού. Μπορεί και στο διπλανό μας σπίτι.
Το βιβλίο "Beyond psychiatric expertise" στις 700 σχεδόν σελίδες του, αναλύοντας τα δύσκολα παρακάτω ερωτήματα, συγκρίνει περασμένες εποχές με τη σημερινή αντίληψη για τη σχέση νοητικής αρρώστιας και ειδεχθούς εγκλήματος.
Μερικά αποσπάσματα πολύ χαρακτηριστικά που αφορούν το νόμο και τους ψυχιάτρους.
"Questions are daily put: Is one “sick or criminal?” “Sick or praiseworthy?” “Sick or sinful?” “Sick or uneducated?” “Sick or unwise?” “Sick or lazy?” “Sick or malingering?” “Sick or manipulative?” “Sick or merely unpleasant?” “Sick or inexperienced?” These questions lie behind decisionmaking, not only when they are presented directly. They are constantly put to experts in the area of behavior and mental illness".
"What do we mean when we say that certain
behavior is a product, or a feature, of mental
illness? One could say that mental illness tinges all
aspects of the thought processes of the individual,
and that every act of the individual is at least
partially affected by mental illness".
"The psychiatric task was to decide
if this behavior was a product of mental illness or
merely representative of a life-style.
The phrase product of mental illness is known
in forensic psychiatry as the Durham standard.
Monte Durham was a misfit".
"How does a psychiatrist decide whether the
cluster of characteristics constitutes an illness?
Probably the first criterion that occurs is suffering.
Pain, discomfort, malaise, and distress would seem
to be the hallmarks of sickness".
"Psychiatric research seems to be on the threshold of discovering the neurochemical underpinnings of schizophrenia. With discoveries such as these, will schizophrenia no longer be a mental illness? Will it be a neurological or physical illness?"
"A person can be partly mentally ill and partly
well. In examining several areas of mental
functioning, it may be found that some of these fit
the criteria of illness while others do not".
"Society has become alarmed by an everincreasing
crime rate and the fact that a defendant
such as John Hinckley, who attempted to
assassinate President Reagan, was found not
guilty by reason of insanity. The public and the
politicians are in no mood to have much
compassion for serious offenders".
"One must be very careful about the use of the
words freedom and liberty, because they are
sufficiently ambiguous to be used in rhetorical
advantage. The liberty referred to in this book is
an immune right—freedom from government
intervention. Advocates of compulsory treatment
will often argue that they, too, are for freedom—
the right of the individual to be free from the
crippling effects of illness. This is not an immune
right; it is a claim and thus is a very different (even
if important) type of freedom".
Is it any wonder that in more primitive times
medicine and religion were one and the same.
Κ.Μ