Institutions
Borderline Personality Disorder and Related Traits in Forensic Psychiatry: Article Review
As Reid (2009) rightly points out, character traits affecting persons with personality disorders such as regulation of emotions, impaired judgment, impulse control, chaotic internal and external lives, inaccurate perceptions and inappropriate rationalization affect the outcome of criminal, civil and institutional cases. When such circumstances occur, questions arise about whether the allegation/evidence persons with personality disorders provide is admissible in courts of law. In order to resolve some of these cases, forensic examination is necessary. The premise behind the use of forensic examination is that it is the only means to determine whether someone is competent to do something, and is responsible for his/her behavior.
Although mental health professionals understand the deep pathology associated with BPD, it is always a challenge to convey these genuine flaws and incapacities to those who make legal decisions. This is because people affected by BPD do not appear truly incapacitated to the jurors and to the citizens at large. In addition, social policy decisions do not exclude people from standards of good and lawful behavior solely because they show signs of psychiatric problems. Nonetheless, it is good to understand that people with BPD can be wronged, and equally deserve compensation/consideration as long as the case is supported by facts.
It is unreasonable to assume that allegations provided by persons affected by BPD are suspect, even if the characteristics appear in the forensic context. For example, it is common for physicians and clinicians dealing with persons affected by BPD to be sued. When such cases arise, they should be determined for their own merit, without disregarding evidence due to clinical reasons.
When dealing with persons affected by BPD, most of the correction issues can be solved through careful forensic examination. However, the examiner needs to be aware of the personality aspects in the individual that create grounds for defense, transference and counter-transference. Again, it is always important to evaluate the history of the person under examination. Lastly, it is important to record the examination.
Reference
Reid, W. H. (2009). Bipolar personality disorder and related traits in forensic psychiatry.
http://psychandlaw.org/columns/15%20Reid%2005-09%20pp216-220.pdf
