[Psychiatric treatment of mentally abnormal delinquents under detention].

Abstract

The author examines the situation of psychiatric treatment of abnormal offenders under detention, and lists ten problem areas: 1) Lack of interdisciplinarity; 2) Lack of proper diagnostic categories; 3) Lack of definition of treatment goals; 4) Lack of integration into general criminal policy planning; 5) Mistaken emphasis on "prediction"; 6) Politicization of the concept of deviance; 7) Non-recognition, on the part of the professions, of their institutional role--the "who is the client" dilemma; 8) Confusion of forensic with criminal justice system roles; 9) Considering detention an isolated process, and not as part of the criminal justice system continuum; 10) Lack of basic research and of comparative studies.