Pitfalls of Forensic Psychiatry Addenda to a study visit to the Soviet Union

Öz

In the company of other university colleagues, the author visited 1989 institutions of forensic psychiatry in the Soviet Union. Since the early 1970's, Western mass media and scientific journals have accused Soviet psychiatry of allowing itself to be misused in the pathologisation of dissidents. The author examines these charges against the background of the political function which is accorded psychiatry, not onl y in the USSR but also in Western democrac ie s. In his opinion, it was a wise decision on the part of the World Association of Psychiatry in October 1989 to reinstate the Soviet Society of Psychiatry to full membership status and he wishes to stress that neither forensic psychiatry in the Federal Republic of Germany nor in other Western countries has any grounds for self-righteousness or complacency.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Forensic psychiatry
• Forensic psychiatry and politics
• Misuse of psychiatry

Kaynakça

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2. Reddaway, P. ( ) The current situation in the Soviet Psychiatry rcgarding political abuses. In: International Association on thc Political Usc of Psychiatry in the USSR, August 26.
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