Problems of Forensic Sciences 2013 Vol. 93 (XCIII) 371-390
INTERDISCIPLINARY EXPERTISE: NEW TASKS AND AREAS OF DIAGNOSTIC COOPERATION FOR FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGISTS*
Józef Krzysztof GIEROWSKI
Department of Psychiatry, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Kraków, Poland
Institute of Forensic Research, Kraków, Poland
Streszczenie
The present state of forensic psychology and psychiatry requires a fresh assessment of the circumstances in which the justice system uses specialist knowledge of the principles and processes that underlie the human psyche and particularly mental health. The multidisciplinary and complementary approach to diagnosis, therapy and rehabilitation that is now standard practise when dealing with various mental disorders also requires the re-evaluation of the traditional criteria applied to the knowledge and skills of psychiatrists and clinical psychologists. While psychological and psychiatric knowledge is becoming increasingly more integrated, this trend is taking hold only slowly in forensic psychology and psychiatry. Given that the current legal provisions increasingly require the submission of complex psychiatric-psychological expert opinions, the issue appears worthy of further consideration. The complex approach to expert opinions has both advantages and drawbacks. There is a risk in preparing an interdisciplinary opinion of “mixing up” the concepts and terms used by experts in different specialisations and of encountering methodological difficulties. On the other hand, it would seem that drawing up complex expert opinions of interdisciplinary scope is now indispensable and a strong argument for the validity of the proposed approach may be made by referring to the positive experience with the DSM classification system. This paper analyses the principles and fields of psychiatric-psychological cooperation to produce expert opinions that arise from the provisions of the criminal and civil law. The issues involved are non-accountability, the imposition of preventive measures, prediction, assessing violence risk and certain civil law questions, such as incapacitation and declaration of will, which pose problems in preparing expert opinions. The model of psychiatric-psychological cooperation adopted by the legislator does not fully reflect the range of knowledge, skills and abilities involved in psychiatric and psychological practise and is not an internally coherent or consistent solution. Nevertheless, it does create the conditions for such cooperation to take place.
Słowa kluczowe
Forensic psychology; Complex forensic expert opinions; Standards in expert opinions.