Titolo Rivista:  PSICOTERAPIA E SCIENZE UMANE

Autori/Curatori: Pietro Pellegrini

Anno di pubblicazione: 2008 Fascicolo: 3 Lingua: IT
Numero pagine: 6 Dimensione file: 89 KB

Presentazione:
On responsibility in Psychiatric practice - A psychiatrist was judged guilty of manslaughter because one of his patients committed homicide (see the contribution by Euro Pozzi A note on responsibility in psychiatric practice, in the section Discussions of Psicoterapia e Scienze Umane, 2008, 52, 2: 219-223). This sentence, that is unprecedented in the history of Italian jurisprudence, can have multiple consequences in Italian psychiatry, since it undermines the assumptions of Italian law no. 180/1978 on Psychiatric Reform. The danger of reintroducing a positivistic and pseudo-scientific psychiatry, based on supposed certainties that are in contrast with the complexities and uncertainties of community psychiatry, is discussed. A series of conflicts and irresolvable contradictions can be generated, and the outcome may be not only a defensive psychiatry and an increase of hospitalizations (without, incidentally, adequate facilities), but also an impossible psychiatry. In this context, a shared handling of risk-taking becomes an important aspect of psychiatric practice. [KEY WORDS: forensic psychiatry, dangerousness, psychiatrist’s responsibility, handling of risk-taking, community psychiatry]