[Between law and psychiatry: homosexuality in the project of the Swiss penal code (1918)].
In 1942 the Swiss penal code depenalises homosexual acts between agreeing adults under some conditions. The genesis of the penal article shows that it was constructed before the First World War and bears marks of the forensic theories of the turn of the century. Both by direct contacts and the authority of its eminent figures, Swiss psychiatry exerts an unquestionable influence on the depenalisation. The conceptualisation of homosexuality is also strongly influenced by the German psychiatric theories and discussed in reference to Germanic law. By the penal article, the Swiss lawyers and psychiatrists link the homosexual question with the determination of the irresponsibility of criminal mental patients and degeneracy.
Delessert
Thierry
T
Thierry Delessert, Institut d'histoire économique et sociale, Université de Lausanne, BFSH 2, CH-1015 Lausanne. thierry.delessert@unil.ch