TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2013//
TI  - A neurolaw perspective on psychiatric assessments of criminal responsibility: Decision-making, mental disorder, and the brain
JO  - International journal of law and psychiatry
A1  - Meynen, Gerben
SP  - 93
EP  - 99
VL  - 36
IS  - 2
N2  - In some criminal law cases, the defendant is assessed by a forensic psychiatrist or psychologist within the context of an insanity defense. In this article I argue that specific neuroscientific research can be helpful in improving the quality of such a forensic psychiatric evaluation. This will be clarified in two ways. Firstly, we shall adopt the approach of understanding these forensic assessments as evaluations of the influence of a mental disorder on a defendant's decision-making process. Secondly, I shall point to the fact that researchers in neuroscience have performed various studies over recent years on the influence of specific mental disorders on a patient's decision-making. I argue that such research, especially if modified to decision-making in criminal scenarios, could be very helpful to forensic psychiatric assessments. This kind of research aims to provide insights not merely into the presence of a mental disorder, but also into the actual impact of mental disorders on the decisions defendants have made in regard to their actions.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0160-2527
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlp.2013.01.001
ID  - ref1
ER  -