Forensic psychiatry: Influences of evil

Abstract

Many conscientious mental health professionals caring for disturbed patients have either unscientifically formulated for themselves notions of 'evil' to explain the behavior of their patients, or have been given patients described by judges and the press as 'evil'. Although such notions may be deemed unscientific, beyond the purview of medicine, and better suited for discussion by theologians and moral philosophers, the fact remains that these notions of 'evil' have a definite impact on the practice of psychiatry, if not all medical fields.