PS02.01 - The role of forensic psychiatry in mental health systems in Europe

Abstract

Forensic Psychiatry seems different from one country to another due to different historical developments, legal systems and mental health systems. There are,however, several common goals of Forensic Psychiatry shared across countries, e.g.

1. - To assure treatment for severely mentally ill patients who became delinquent and to give evidence to courts in cases where the responsibility due to mental illness is in question

2. - To prevent relapse of mentally disordered offenders

This work has to be done in the interface of Law and Psychiatry and mostly needs an interdisciplinary approach. Forensic Psychiatry has developed special knowledge and skills which pertain especially to violence and sexual deviance, to risk assessment and management and to the incorporation of techniques developed in neighbouring disciplines.

On the other hand the specialisation of psychiatry into several subdisciplines has lead to the loss of some these skills in general psychiatry and to a “forensification” of some of its patients.

From these developments new fields of interest arise both for general and forensic psychiatry:

• – How to prevent mentally ill from becoming forensic patients

• – How to prevent mentally ill from becoming victims of crime

• – How to intervene in the vicious circle from victim to perpetrator

Research on these topics is just beginning and neither general nor forensic psychiatry will be able to achieve practical progress if they try to reach it independently. So I plead for a close integration of forensic psychiatry into the mental health system and for intensive exchange of knowledge and skills.