NCJ Number
226519
Journal
Problems of Forensic Sciences Volume: 74 Dated: 2008 Pages: 150-160
Date Published
2008
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This paper identifies and discusses commonly encountered problems and mistakes in forensic reports and psychiatric certificates in Poland regarding persons with a diagnosis of broadly understood depressive syndrome.
Abstract
Ninety percent of the individuals examined in the Krakow Department of Forensic Medicine under court and prosecutor orders are diagnosed with “depressive syndrome,” mainly of the reactive variety. The difficulty in preparing forensic reports with such a broad diagnosis is that criminal and civil courts want precise judgments about how the characteristics of a person’s mental state and disorder bear upon the legal issues directly related to judgments required of the court in both criminal and civil cases. This requires that the findings of the psychological evaluation be tailored to the relevant legal issues. One of the significant tasks of experienced forensic experts is to educate clinical physicians who issue expert reports about the difference between a diagnosis for treatment and a diagnosis for an expert opinion for consideration in a justice system forum. In the case of a diagnosis of depression, it is also necessary to distinguish between ongoing depressive disorders that pervade an individual’s capabilities and depression related to reactions to specific circumstances that arise as a result of the stress of the legal conflict in which the individual is enmeshed. 15 references