The attitude of Iranian Psychiatrists toward diminished criminal liability

INTRODUCTION: This study investigated the attitude of Iranian psychiatrists towards criminal responsibility.

Materials and Methods: One hundred and fifty four Iranian psychiatrists that were randomly selected from general university hospitals, psychiatric hospitals and offices participated in this research by simple random sampling. The study questionnaire consisted of two main parts including demographic information and a list of 38 psychiatric disorders defined on DSM V and provided by the American Psychiatry Association.

Results: The most frequent psychiatric disorders that were thought by the psychiatrist to cause a diminished criminal responsibility were schizophrenia (total 98.7%, male 48.7% and female 50.0%, p > 0.05), brief psychotic disorder (total 87.7%, male 42.2% and female 45.5% p > 0.05) and schizophrenia form disorder (total 87%, male 42.9% and female 44.2%, p > 0.05). On the other hand, the least frequent disorders were histrionic personality disorder (total 2.6%, male 1.3% and female 1.3%, p > 0.05), oppositional defiant disorder (total 3.2%, male 0.6% and female 2.6%, p > 0.05) and borderline personality disorder (total 3.8%, male 3.2% and female 0.6%, p > 0.05).

Conclusion: Iranian psychiatrists do not receive proper training in the field of forensic psychiatry during their residency program which necessitates a reform in the current curriculum to cover the ever-challenging subjects of forensic psychiatry, a point in which law and psychiatry meet.