We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
Fitness, responsibility, and judicially ordered assessments.
- Authors
Ohayon, Maurice M.; Crocker, Anne; St-Onge, Bernard; Caulet, M.; Ohayon, M M; Crocker, A; St-Onge, B
- Abstract
<bold>Objective: </bold>To compare the characteristics of individuals assessed for fitness to stand trial (FST) with those assessed for criminal responsibility (CR).<bold>Method: </bold>This study examines all the consecutive requests of FST or CR addressed to the only forensic psychiatric hospital in the province of Quebec and 2 prisons in the Montreal area over a 1-year period.<bold>Results: </bold>In all, 170 FST, 52 CR, and 29 both FST and CR assessment requests were received (251 subjects). Psychiatrists' recommendations and court verdicts of unfitness to stand trial or not criminally responsible on account of mental disorders were mostly related to the presence of a psychotic-spectrum disorder. There is generally a good agreement between psychiatric recommendations and verdicts of the court, with the exception of unfitness recommendations.<bold>Conclusions: </bold>Defendants referred for a FST or a CR assessment displayed similar characteristics. However, although subjects with psychotic disorders represented more than one-half of the unfit or not criminally responsible verdicts, most of the subjects with psychoses were found competent to stand trial or responsible.
- Subjects
CANADA; QUEBEC (Province); COMPETENCY to stand trial; CRIMINAL procedure; CRIMINAL liability; PSYCHIATRISTS; FORENSIC psychiatry; MENTAL illness; PSYCHIATRIC hospitals; MENTAL health personnel; PSYCHIATRIC diagnosis; PSYCHIATRIC epidemiology; PSYCHIATRIC hospital statistics; ANALYSIS of variance; CAPACITY (Law); COMPARATIVE studies; COMPUTER software; CRIMINOLOGY; RESEARCH methodology; MEDICAL cooperation; PSYCHOSES; RESEARCH; EVALUATION research; INSANITY defense; LAW; LEGISLATION; DIAGNOSIS
- Publication
Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 1998, Vol 43, Issue 5, p491
- ISSN
0706-7437
- Publication type
journal article
- DOI
10.1177/070674379804300507