Psychoanalytic principles as a heuristic framework to bridge the gap between psychology and the law in SVP evaluations: Assessing emotional and volitional impairment

The legal concepts of emotional and volitional impairment in SVP evaluations are vague and ill-defined. This article reviews the legal terms of emotional and volitional impairment as they have been contemplated in extant SVP statutes, SVP case law, logical constructions, and limited empirical studie...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of law and psychiatry 2015-09, Vol.42-43, p.154-167
Main Author: Simon, Eric P.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Affective Symptoms - psychology
Antisocial Personality Disorder - psychology
Criminals - psychology
Emotional impairment
Forensic Psychiatry - methods
Heuristics
Humans
Psychoanalytic
Psychoanalytic Theory
Self Concept
Sex Offenses - legislation & jurisprudence
Sex Offenses - psychology
Sexually violent predator
Supreme Court Decisions
SVP
Transference (Psychology)
United States
Volition
Volitional impairment
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Summary:The legal concepts of emotional and volitional impairment in SVP evaluations are vague and ill-defined. This article reviews the legal terms of emotional and volitional impairment as they have been contemplated in extant SVP statutes, SVP case law, logical constructions, and limited empirical studies. To bridge the gap between psychiatry and the law, a broad, theory-based heuristic framework is furnished for understanding emotional and volitional impairment at a deep psychological (and intra-psychic) level. Specifically discussed are the concepts of transference, repetition compulsion, fixation, cathexis, regression, identification with the aggressor, and the object-relations and self-psychology concepts related to a loss of possession of the self.
ISSN:0160-2527
1873-6386
DOI:10.1016/j.ijlp.2015.08.021