Dissociative Identity Disorder – practical problems and theoretical issues related to criminal responsibility

Abstract

The issues related to Dissociative Disorder of Identity in Polish legal science have not been raised in principle. Few studies in this field emphasize its controversial nature, both in the psychiatric and criminal law aspects. This applies to the criminal liability of the perpetrator of the prohibited act, including his / her sanity, and consequently also to issues related to his rehabilitation or treatment. This disorder causes significant diagnostic difficulties, much greater than the relatively exhaustively described dissocial disorder (the so-called psychopathy), from which it is absolutely necessary to distinguish DID. Thus, the views on “psychopathy”, established in the literature and judicature of criminal law, do not find an adequate reference to Dissociative Identity Disorder. At the same time, the nature and manner of committing the act by perpetrators with this disorder justify a thorough analysis of the subject using a specific case. The practical dimension of this issue also includes forensic-psychiatric and psychological issues. The criminological point of view suggests that the phenomenon itself is underestimated. The aim of the study is to show the signaled problems and to try to answer the questions posed in the study. The most important of them is related to the possibility of recognizing the title disorders as the cause of insanity, referred to in Article 31 1 of the CC, and consequently the legitimacy of applying an appropriate precautionary measure to the perpetrator.

Keywords

• dissociative disorders
• multiple personality
• insanity
• diminished sanity