Psychiatry and criminal justice in modern Germany, 1880—1933

2009 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 270-289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard F. Wetzell
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Expert Testimony ◽  
Social Acceptance ◽  
Criminal Behaviour ◽  
Medical Expert ◽  
Criminal Trials ◽  
Reform Agenda ◽  
Modern Germany ◽  
Penal Reform

This article presents an overview and analysis of the relationship of psychiatry and criminal justice in three different areas: the role of medical expert testimony in criminal trials; the role of psychiatrists in criminological research; and the influence of psychiatry on the penal reform movement. The first section argues that the increased use of medical expert testimony in the criminal courts demonstrates the increasing social acceptance of the psychiatric claim that borderline mental abnormalities were widespread and frequently connected to criminal behaviour. The second section examines the reasons why psychiatrists became so interested in research into the causes of criminal behaviour, and relates this interest to psychiatrists’ efforts to expand their professional territory. The third section argues that psychiatry exerted an important influence on the penal reform agenda. Not only was psychiatry crucial to the treatment of mentally deficient offenders, but the penal reformers’ demand to make every offender’s punishment dependent on his ‘social prognosis’ promised to give psychiatric expertise a central role in criminal justice. The article’s conclusion examines to what extent it makes sense to speak of a medicalization of criminal justice in this period.

scholarly journals Expressing what? The stigmatization of the defendant and the ICC’s institutional interests in the Ongwen case

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Liana Georgieva Minkova
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Northern Uganda ◽  
International Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Trials ◽  
Operation Risk ◽  
International Criminal Trials ◽  
Empirical Contribution ◽  
Selection Of

Abstract The potential of international criminal trials to express the wrongfulness of mass atrocities and instil norms of appropriate behaviour within communities has been subject to a lively theoretical debate. This article makes an important empirical contribution by examining the limitations to the expressivist aspiration of international criminal justice in the context of the message communicated by the International Criminal Court’s Office of the Prosecutor (ICC-OTP) in the Ongwen case. A detailed analysis of the selection of charges, modes of liability, and the overall presentation of the Prosecutor’s arguments at trial suggests that the ICC-OTP’s limited capabilities to apprehend suspects and its dependency on state co-operation risk the excessive stigmatization of the few defendants available for trial for the purpose of demonstrating the Court’s capability of prosecuting notorious criminals. As the only apprehended commander from the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), Dominic Ongwen has been presented by the ICC-OTP as the ‘cause’ of crimes committed in Northern Uganda without due regard for the degree of his alleged involvement in those crimes compared to other LRA commanders, the role of other actors in the conflict, or the significance of his own victimization as a child. Ongwen’s excessive stigmatization expressed the importance of the Ugandan investigation after a decade of showing no results. Yet, it also produced a simplistic narrative which failed to express the complexity of violence in Northern Uganda.

First Time Lucky? Exploring Whether First-Time Offenders Should Be Sentenced More Leniently

2013 ◽  
Vol 77 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-171
Author(s):  
Elaine Freer
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Theoretical Basis ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Minority Group ◽  
Criminal Behaviour ◽  
Repeat Offenders ◽  
The Impact ◽  
First Time ◽  
Sentence Reductions

This article explores the normative position and theoretical justifications for sentencing first-time offenders more leniently than repeat offenders, and examines whether such a practice is defensible. Those justifications include a lack of awareness of the gravity of criminal behaviour, a single lapse, that no censure has previously been communicated by the criminal justice system to that person, adolescent-limited offending, the impact of being in a minority group, and non-uniform impact. It examines whether various sentencing philosophies support sentence reductions for first-time offenders, and whether the justifiability of such practices depends on the theoretical basis and aims of sentencing, for instance the role of proportionality and deterrence.

scholarly journals Gendered Justice: The Impact of Gender on Criminal Justice Policies and Legislation throughout the United Kingdom

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samantha Perussich
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Crime Control ◽  
The Other ◽  
Criminal Behaviour ◽  
Traditional Role ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Harm Prevention ◽  
The Impact

<h2>This article discusses the role of gender in the commission of crime, criminality, and harm prevention, by critically examining the notion of crime within theories about women’s and men’s criminality, and the gendered nature of crime control policies throughout the United Kingdom (UK), England, Wales, and Scotland. Throughout the literature, there has been a continued focus on women needing to be ‘repaired’ when they commit crime, because women are seen as having gone outside the traditional role of what it means to be female. On the other hand, the link between hegemonic masculinity and criminal behaviour among men is often ignored within criminal justice policies. It will be argued that both women and men are failed by a system that does not engage with gendered power and harms within society. A combination of targeted approaches that focus on the factors that lead to offending is required to reduce crime. </h2>

scholarly journals Curative, regenerating, redemptive and liberating? The systematic production of ignorance in Michael Gove’s rhetoric on prison reform at a time of crisis

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-105
Author(s):  
Chloe Peacock
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Prison Reform ◽  
Progressive Reform ◽  
Reform Agenda ◽  
Discursive Strategies ◽  
High Profile ◽  
Conservative Government

Prisons are in a moment of crisis, with a number of recent high-profile scandals receiving substantial media attention and threatening to undermine the hegemony of the institution. At the same time, the work of the current Conservative Government on criminal justice policy as a whole, and on prisons in particular, has been seen by many as a marked departure from their previous penal policy agenda, heralding a new, progressive and broadly liberal direction. Focusing on Michael Gove’s rhetoric on prison reform during his term as Justice Secretary (May 2015 to July 2016), this article uses critical discourse analysis (CDA) to examine how Gove employed a variety of discursive strategies to create an impression of a liberal, progressive reform agenda, while simultaneously reinforcing the need for an expansive and punitive prison system. Building on recent work on agnotology, it shows that Gove strategically selected, deflected, distorted and ignored the available evidence on prisons. In doing so, he effectively legitimized and reinforced the central role of the prison in the criminal justice system despite increasing evidence of its inefficacy, foreclosing discussion of genuinely radical alternatives.

scholarly journals SAKSI AHLI SEBAGAI ALAT BUKTI DALAM HUKUM ACARA PIDANA INDONESIA

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (9) ◽  
pp. 1423
Author(s):  
Luh Putu Kristyanti
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Expert Testimony ◽  
Expert Witness ◽  
Documentary Evidence ◽  
Witness Testimony ◽  
Criminal Procedure Law ◽  
Justice Process ◽  
Criminal Justice Process ◽  
Court Proceedings

Keterangan ahli/ saksi ahli merupakan salah satu alat bukti dalam hukum acara pidana Indonesia. Perlu ditelusuri lebih mendetail perihal keterangan ahli serta kondisi saat keterangan ahli termasuk alat bukti saksi atau alat bukti surat. Penelitian ini akan difokuskan pada peran saksi ahli dalam proses peradilan di pengadilan dalam memperoleh keadilan materiil. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode normatif dengan analisa kualitatif. Keterangan ahli dalam proses peradilan pidana jika diberikan secara tertulis termasuk pada alat bukti surat, namun ketika diberikan secara lisan di persidangan maka termasuk alat bukti keterangan saksi. Expert statement / expert witness is one of the evidence in Indonesian criminal procedure law. It needs to be explored in more detail regarding expert testimony and conditions when expert testimony includes witness evidence or letter evidence. This research will focus on the role of expert witnesses in court proceedings in obtaining material justice. This study uses a normative method with qualitative analysis. Expert testimony in the criminal justice process, if given in writing, includes documentary evidence, but when it is given orally in court, it includes evidence for witness testimony.

scholarly journals Gendered Justice: The Impact of Gender on Criminal Justice Policies and Legislation throughout the United Kingdom

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samantha Perussich
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Crime Control ◽  
The Other ◽  
Criminal Behaviour ◽  
Traditional Role ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Harm Prevention ◽  
The Impact

<h2>This article discusses the role of gender in the commission of crime, criminality, and harm prevention, by critically examining the notion of crime within theories about women’s and men’s criminality, and the gendered nature of crime control policies throughout the United Kingdom (UK), England, Wales, and Scotland. Throughout the literature, there has been a continued focus on women needing to be ‘repaired’ when they commit crime, because women are seen as having gone outside the traditional role of what it means to be female. On the other hand, the link between hegemonic masculinity and criminal behaviour among men is often ignored within criminal justice policies. It will be argued that both women and men are failed by a system that does not engage with gendered power and harms within society. A combination of targeted approaches that focus on the factors that lead to offending is required to reduce crime. </h2>

scholarly journals Mapping the Conditions of Penal Hope

2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 27-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Brown
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Turning Point ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Political Issue ◽  
What Works ◽  
Penal Reform ◽  
The Right

This article examines the conditions of penal optimism behind suggestions that the penal expansionism of the last three decades may be at a ‘turning point’. The article proceeds by outlining David Green’s suggested catalysts of penal reform and considers how applicable they are in the Australian context. Green’s suggested catalysts are: the cycles and saturation thesis; shifts in the dominant conception of the offender; the GFC and budgetary constraints; the drop in crime; the emergence of the prisoner re-entry movement; apparent shifts in public opinion; the influence of evangelical Christian ideas and the Right on Crime initiative. The article then considers a number of other possible catalysts or forces: the role of trade unions; the role of courts; the emergence of recidivism as a political issue; the influence of ’evidence based’/’what works’’ discourse; and the emergence of justice reinvestment (JR). The article concludes with some comments about the capacity of criminology and criminologists to contribute to penal reductionism, offering an optimistic assessment for the prospects of a reflexive criminology that engages in and engenders a wider politics around criminal justice issues.

All Rise for the Interventionist

2016 ◽  
Vol 80 (3) ◽  
pp. 201-213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ed Johnston
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Case Management ◽  
Criminal Trials ◽  
Justice Process ◽  
Criminal Justice Process ◽  
Defence Counsel ◽  
New Form ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Changing Role

This paper will examine the changing role played by the judiciary in criminal trials. The paper examines the genesis of the adversarial criminal trial that was born out of lifting the prohibition on defence counsel in trials of treason. The paper will chart the rise of judicial passivity as lawyers dominated trials. Finally, the paper examines the rise of the interventionist judiciary in the wake of the Auld Review that launched an attack on the inefficiencies of the modern trial. To tackle the inefficiencies, the Criminal Procedure Rules allowed the judiciary to reassume a role of active case management. The impact an interventionist judiciary has for adversarial criminal justice is examined. The paper finds that a departure from traditional adversarial has occurred; the criminal justice process has shifted to a new form of process, driven by a managerial agenda.

A Trial Consultant's View of the Medical Expert Witness

2013 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 7-10
Author(s):  
Deborah Rutt ◽  
Kathyrn Mueller
Keyword(s):  
Nonverbal Communication ◽  
Expert Testimony ◽  
Medical Literature ◽  
Expert Witness ◽  
Personal Injury ◽  
Expert Witnesses ◽  
Good Teacher ◽  
Medical Expert ◽  
Medical Terms ◽  
Medical Issues

Abstract Physicians who use the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment (AMA Guides) often serve as medical expert witnesses. In workers’ compensation cases, the expert may appear in front of a judge or hearing officer; in personal injury and other cases, the physician may testify by deposition or in court before a judge with or without a jury. This article discusses why medical expert witnesses are needed, what they do, and how they can help or hurt a case. Whether it is rendered by a judge or jury, the final opinions rely on laypersons’ understanding of medical issues. Medical expert testimony extracts from the intricacies of the medical literature those facts the trier of fact needs to understand; highlights the medical facts pertinent to decision making; and explains both these in terms that are understandable to a layperson, thereby enabling the judge or jury to render well-informed opinions. For expert witnesses, communication is everything, including nonverbal communication that critically determines if judges and, particularly, jurors believe a witness. To these ends, an expert medical witnesses should know the case; be objective; be a good teacher; state opinions clearly; testify with appropriate professional demeanor; communicate well, both verbally and nonverbally; in verbal communications, explain medical terms and procedures so listeners can understand the case; and avoid medical jargon, finding fault or blaming, becoming argumentative, or appearing arrogant.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document