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Forensic Evaluations for Offenders With Dementia in Taiwan's Criminal Courts
Hui-Yi Wang1, Jiun-Hsiung Chen1, San-Yuan Huang1
1Dr. Wang is Attending Psychiatrist, Department of Psychiatry, Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC, and Department of Psychiatry, Tri-Service General Hospital, School of Medicine, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC. Dr. Chen is the Director and a Psychiatrist, Department of Psychiatry, Armed Forces Kaohsiung General Hospital, Gangshan Branch, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, ROC. Professor Huang is a Psychiatrist, Department of Psychiatry, Tri-Service General Hospital, School of Medicine, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC. Ms. Yeh is a lecturer, Department of Nursing, Kang-Ning University (Taipei Campus), Taipei, Taiwan, ROC, and a PhD student, Institute of Bioinformatics and System Biology, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan, ROC. Dr. Mao is a Psychiatrist, Chen Hsin General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC. Dr. Chang is a Psychiatrist, Department of Psychiatry, Tri-Service General Hospital, School of Medicine, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC. Dr. Kao is a Psychiatrist, Department of Psychiatry, Tri-Service General Hospital, Song-Shan Branch, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC. Prof. Yeh is the Director and a Psychiatrist, Department of Psychiatry, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC. Dr. Chou is an Associate Professor, School of Public Health, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC. Ms. Chiang is a research associate, Department of Psychiatry, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC. Dr Tzeng is a Psychiatrist, the Director of the Training Program for Forensic Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Tri-Service General Hospital, and the Director of Student Counseling Center, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC. This study was funded by a grant (MAB-102-69) from the National Defense Medical Center.
Abstract:
Dementia is an increasing world-wide health problem, and the association between dementia and adjudication of crimes has rarely been studied. The data in this study are described and analyzed by gender, psychiatric diagnosis, type of crime, and the acceptance rate by the courts of opinions tendered by forensic psychiatric examiners. The source data are derived from the databank of the Judicial Yuan (Judicial Department) of the Republic of China Law and Regulations Retrieval System. There was a male predominance of 85.1 percent. Larceny (42.6%) was the most frequent crime. There was also a high judicial acceptance rate of 91.5 percent of the professional opinions received from forensic psychiatric evaluators who examined defendants at the request of the courts. Psychiatrists play an important role in providing their professional opinions for the Taiwanese courts with regard to adjudication of evaluees with dementia. Most courts accepted psychiatrists' professional opinions about offenders with dementia, and the rate of acceptance was reflected in the judicial rulings of criminal responsibility.