Problems of Forensic Sciences 2014 Vol. 97 (XCVII) 62-72
MURDER OR SUICIDE? THE DILEMMAS OF A COMPLEX EXPERT OPINION
Józef Krzysztof GIEROWSKI1, 2, Elżbieta SKUPIEŃ1
1Institute of Forensic Research, Kraków, Poland
2Department of Psychiatry, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Kraków, Poland
Streszczenie
The article analyses the importance of cooperation between forensic psychologists, psychiatrists and medical examiners in the field of investigative psychology and is especially concerned with the profiling of violent offenders. The interdisciplinary approach to solving these issues, which are of such importance in preliminary proceedings, calls for teams of specialists from a range of fields to combine to produce complex expert opinions. This represents a return to a model of cooperation between disciplines that, historically, are derived from the same field of study: forensic medicine. Cooperation of this nature – if brought up to date through the application of all of the current achievements of the forensic sciences – could yield significant benefits both in crime investigation and crime prevention. The article presents a case in which, following the discovery of a body, murder was assumed. It was only at a later stage of the investigation, after the opinions of several experts had been heard, that the hypothesis of suicide was advanced. The case study would appear to support the calls made by forensic scientists for an interdisciplinary approach to issues important for preliminary proceedings, which often straddle the border zone occupied by investigative psychology, forensic medicine and psychopathology.
Słowa kluczowe
Investigative psychology and psychiatry; Interdisciplinary cooperation between a medical examiner and a psychologist; Complex expert opinion.