[Does the evaluation of affect crimes deal with a psychopathologic problem?]

The reformulation of the sections 20, 21 StGB (concerning the defense of insanity in the German law) brought a renewed interest in the controversy about the disease concept and the assessment of responsibility in forensic psychiatry. Although the opinions of Kurt Schneider are still very influential, there are competing conceptions based on positions of normal psychology, social psychology or motivational psychology. The controversial issues are discussed and an integrating approach is proposed, though the psychopathological analysis is still regarded as the most important aspect. The question, whether one of the categories of the sections 20, 21 StGB is qualified and whether the intensity of the psychological disturbance indicates a reduced responsibility, must be answered regarding the empirical knowledge of mentally ill, abnormal and sane individuals. Instead of the former concept of disease, which was based on a known or postulated somatic pathology, a psychopathological system of reference for each category of the sections 20, 21 StGB has to be developed for the assessment of the disfunction during the offense. As an example, two catalogues of positive and negative criteria are proposed for the detection of a "profound disturbance of consciousness" in crimes of passion.