Citation

Kuhar M, Fatovic-Ferencic S. Hist. Psychiatry 2017; 28(4): 460-472.

Affiliation

Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Croatia.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0957154X17719174

PMID

28701052

Abstract

Nineteenth-century psychiatry shifted its focus to the brain as the seat of mental disorders. With a new understanding of mental disorders arose the need to consult forensic psychiatrists in cases of criminal acts committed by persons with mental illness. This article focuses on three murders committed by 'epileptics' at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth centuries in Croatia. An analysis of these cases will help to situate forensic psychiatry at the turn of the century within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and reveal the authority that forensic experts wielded in the courts. We will argue that Cesare Lombroso's biological theory of crime, as well as the influence of eugenicists and pharmaceutical companies, shaped the long-standing relationship between epilepsy and violent behaviour.

Language: en

Keywords

19th century; Cesare Lombroso; Croatia; Ivo Žirovčić; epilepsy; eugenics; forensic psychiatry