Mental illnesses have been, over the years, an associated factor in the vast majority of crimes. However, this thinking is misleading in many ways. At the outset, it is necessary to keep in mind that not every criminal or delinquent suffers from some mental disorder, but in addition, It is worth highlighting that not every mentally ill person commits criminal acts because even if there is a clinical diagnosis, there must be a causal relationship with the act.
As Vicente Garrido Genovés, a prominent Spanish criminologist, rightly mentioned, “that someone challenges the essential principles that regulate our social life, forged over centuries, is not sufficient proof or reason to think that he is a madman or a sick degenerate”. The question of criminal responsibility and imputability, regarding those who commit a crime with a mental illness, has been a topic of constant debate and analysis for decades.
Today, in this article, We review the concepts of psychopathology and non-imputability, we also mention some of the mental disorders with the highest criminogenic incidence
The health encyclopedia defines psychopathology as “Study of the causes, symptoms, evolution and treatment of mental disorders. In a broad sense, Psychopathology also integrates knowledge about personality, pathological behavior, family structure and the social environment..
It is mainly psychiatrists and psychologists who are interested in this area, since they collaborate constantly with regard to treatment and research into the origin of clinical symptoms, as well as their manifestation and development. While psychiatry is concerned with identifying signs and symptoms that become syndromes, diseases or disorders and their respective treatments, psychology applies knowledge of mental processes, learning and the social context to the understanding of various mental pathologies. , from which other disciplines are derived, for example psychotherapy.
Understanding psychopathology, understanding the criminal
We know that the main sciences interested in this area of study are psychiatry and psychology. However, the disciplines that are involved with psychopathology to try to explain the complexity of human behavior are different; among them criminology, whose main objectives are: find the reason for various antisocial behaviors, understand their etiology and prevent their continuity
Although since ancient times it was understood that social deviation could sometimes only be explained by individual internal phenomena such as emotions, moods and sometimes subsequent illness, it was until just two centuries ago, at the hands of jurists such as Lombroso and Garofalo (fathers of criminology) who were introduced to criminal law. The idea that the criminal did not have free will, an axiom of the positivist school of law, maintained that most crimes were caused by a series of organic anomalies, including mental illnesses.
Thus, over the years and with the advancement of science and technology, it has been discovered little by little that Phenomena such as criminal behavior have their etiology in the most diverse manifestations of mental pathologies, sometimes as a consequence of some neurological damage, on other occasions, as a result of genetic inheritance. In this way, some of the most atrocious crimes perpetrated thanks to psychopathology have been understood.
Imputability
One of the main reasons why psychopathology is involved in the forensic field is to help clarify concepts such as criminal liability (to pay criminally for the crime committed) and non-imputability * (indicate that the person cannot be held responsible for what they are criminally accused of).
Psychopathology can help us clarify, sometimes, whether someone who has perpetrated a crime carried out the act in full use of his mental faculties, or if, on the contrary, the act was the result of his state of mind. mental derangement (the result of a mental syndrome or disorder, for example) and, consequently, a penalty cannot be imposed.
It will be the joint work of psychiatry, forensic psychology and criminology to use the knowledge provided by psychopathology to clarify whether a criminal with a mental pathology committed his antisocial behavior with intention, capacity for discernment and freedom.
Some psychopathologies with a greater incidence in crimes
Below we mention only some of the mental disorders with the highest criminogenic incidence, we clarify that having said affectation does not always lead to criminal behavior.
