“The relevance of a coherent forensic assessment and treatment process”: big shot or lame duck?

Abstract

In their article “The relevance of a coherent process of assessment and treatment: boundaries of general psychiatric diagnostic systems ICD and DSM for forensic case work” Borchard and Gerth (2020) argue for a separate diagnostic system in forensic psychiatry. The authors of this article evaluate this proposal and demonstrate why the call for a forensic psychiatric diagnostic system beyond DSM‑5 and ICD-10/ICD-11 cannot be followed. A separate diagnosis and disorder terminology that would be specific for forensic psychiatry is neither necessary nor feasible to sensibly implement at the intersection of law and medicine. Instead, terminological difficulties as well as the risk of pathologizing delinquent behavior would be imminent if the proposal by Borchard and Gerth was put into practice. These problems are highlighted with respect to decisions of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court and with respect to the FOTRES system that Borchard and Gerth recommend.