[Psychiatry and the assessment of human destructiveness: on the question of drawing the line between the "normal" concept of evil and psychiatric illnesses].
Every culture in this world demands that its members comply with a few basic rules: Respect for and maintenance of the health and life of others are recognised as worldwide ethical norms just as much as consideration for the economic basis of existence of others. When these are exceeded, they are punished in all social systems. If there is no severe mental disturbance, the responsibility for a crime or for socially damaging or non-conformist behaviour lies with the individual himself. The question, whether a person could have acted differently in a defined situation on the basis of his personality characteristics and his neural constitution, leads to diverse answers. Is anti-social, criminal behaviour a "disturbance in itself" or the result of a personality structure which has been defined as an illness or an organic deficit? The widest branches of science are occupied with this topic: psychiatry, psychology and philosophy, neural sciences and sociology, jurisprudence and ethics. The list could be continued. The results of personality research along with findings concerning neural mis-connections and the discourse regarding free will in contrast to deterministic interpretations are undoubtedly of particular relevance. On the basis of research results from the scientific disciplines mentioned above, the author concludes that people with socially damaging or radically "evil" behaviour are a very heterogeneous group with strongly varying personality profiles, unfavourable family socialisation conditions and often varied neuro-physiological disturbances, but that responsibility for the crimes they are accused of lies with them as long as their disposition and discretion capacity has not been impaired or removed through serious psychiatric illness.Without classifying them as patients, as our fellow citizens, they deserve our due care and recognition of their human dignity.
Hinterhuber
Hartmann
H
Univ.-Klinik für Allgemeine Psychiatrie und Sozialpsychiatrie, Department für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie, Medizinische Universität Innsbruck. hartmann.hinterhuber@i-med.ac.at
D000987:Antisocial Personality Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology; D003415:Crime / Q000523:psychology*; D019548:Crime Victims / Q000523:psychology; D006708:Homicide / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D010684:Philosophy; D012307:Risk Factors; D012941:Social Responsibility; D012951:Socialization; D023481:Terrorism / Q000523:psychology; D014104:Torture / Q000523:psychology; D014754:Violence / Q000523:psychology*