Psychopathy in South African criminal case law between 1947 and 1999: an exploration of the relationship between psychology and law

This study drew on South African criminal case reports containing judicial pronouncements on psychopathy between 1947 and 1999 to explore the historical relationship between psychology and the law. In criminal law, where mental illness is alleged, the issue of responsibility arises. During the period of the study, there were important legal developments in the criminal law relating to criminal responsibility, including the formulation of a statutory test for capacity in 1977 that did away with the M’Naghten Rules and irresistible impulse principle, ... Diminished responsibility was also entrenched in the criminal law in the same Act. Psychopathy provided an interesting case study as, in terms of legal thinking, a diagnosis may indicate pathology but is not of a degree that it necessarily follows that it would be unreasonable to assign blame in law.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Department of Psychology

Year dc:date.issued

2012

Author dc:creator

• Silkstone, Christine

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Louw, Johann
• Tredoux, Colin

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/12009

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/12009