text:
Recent International Journal of Law and Psychiatry Articles
Quality of criminal responsibility reports submitted to the Hawaii judiciary
Available online 8 December 2013
Kristen D. Fuger | Marvin W. Acklin | Annie H. Nguyen | Lawrie A. Ignacio | W. Neil Gowensmith
Abstract: This paper is the third in a series of research reports on quality of forensic mental health evaluations submitted to the Hawaii judiciary. Previous studies examined quality of reports assessing competency to stand trial (CST) and post-acquittal conditional release, in felony defendants undergoing court-ordered examinations. Utilizing a 44-item quality coding instrument, this study examined quality of criminal responsibility reports in a sample of 150 forensic mental health evaluations conducted between 2006 and 2010 by court-appointed panels. Raters attained high levels of agreement in training and quality coding. Similar to the previous studies, overall quality of reports was mediocre, falling below the .80 quality criterion score for report elements, regardless of evaluator professional identification or employment status. Level of agreement between evaluators and judicial sanity determinations was "fair" using Cicchetti's (1994) standards for interpretation of intra-class correlations. Level of agreement was lower than previously published findings for CST reports and better than conditional release reports. Reasons for mediocre report quality and "fair" inter-rater agreement are discussed, including the fact that criminal responsibility evaluations are complex, retrospective in nature, and involve significant degrees of inference. In contrast to CST evaluations, assessment of criminal responsibility involves a mental state at the time of the offense evaluation. Threats to reliability in forensic reports are discussed. Suggestions for improvement of report quality are proffered, including standardization of procedures and report format and use of forensic assessment instruments.
The impact of judge–defendant communication on mental health court outcomes
Available online 7 December 2013
Emily Gottfried | Joyce Carbonell | Lauren Miller
Abstract: Previous research has shown that mental health courts have been successful in reducing the rates of recidivism among mentally ill offenders. However, none of these studies, to date, have examined exactly what aspects of the courts reduce these rates of recidivism and what makes them successful. The current study utilized a sample of 291 mentally ill criminal offenders participating in a mental health court to examine whether those participants who were addressed by and communicated with the judge had a reduction in recidivism rates and the severity of new charges in comparison to those who did not. The hypotheses regarding greater judge–defendant communication and recidivism were not supported. This suggests that communication in and of itself is not sufficient to reduce recidivism. Future research of a qualitative nature is essential to identify if the frequency, tone, and valence of the communication results in improved outcomes. In addition, these results may indicate a necessity for more stringent training and guidelines for the maintenance of Mental Health Courts. Results of the current study suggested differences between genders, such that females were spoken to by the judge more frequently than were men.
Procedural justice and the judge–probationer relationship in a co-occurring disorders court
Available online 7 December 2013
Myesa Knox Mahoney
Abstract: Although a considerable amount of research has been conducted on treatment-based courts, there is little quantitative evidence that describes the relationship between the judge and the probationer. The present study examines perceptions of the judge–probationer relationship (JPR), procedural justice, and outcome satisfaction within a co-occurring disorders court (CODC) in Orange County, California. Based on interview and survey data from a sample of probationers within the CODC (n=24), this article argues that perceptions of procedural justice are linked to perceptions of relationship quality between the judge and probationer. Analysis of the data found that probationers in the CODC have very positive views of their relationships with the judge, and elements of relationship quality are significantly linked with perceptions of procedural justice. Procedural justice is also a predictor of satisfaction with outcome in this sample. The results show promise that procedural justice and the quality of the judge–probationer relationship can positively affect probationers with co-occurring disorders in specialty courts.
Sexual assault, irresistible impulses, and forensic psychiatry in Sweden
Available online 6 December 2013
Åsa Bergenheim
Abstract: After forensic psychiatry was firmly established in Sweden in the 1930s, many rapists and individuals charged with assaulting children underwent a forensic psychiatric examination. The physicians found that most of them had not been "in control" of their senses or not "in complete control" of their senses at the time of the crime. If the court ordered a forensic psychiatric examination, the defendant had a very good chance of either being discharged or having his sentence reduced considerably. By the 1950s psychological perspectives began to dominate in forensic psychiatry. In the forensic records of the 1950s we can notice a shift from a biomedical to a socio-psychological perspective, and crime was increasingly related to conditions that were not seen as mental derangement from a legal point of view. As a result, it became less and less common, from the 1950s onwards, for sentences to be commuted or defendants discharged.
Explanations for violent behaviour—An interview study among forensic in-patients
Available online 4 December 2013
Susanna Radovic | Pontus Höglund
Abstract: The alleged relation between mental disorder and violent criminal behaviour has been investigated mainly from an epidemiological perspective. Population-based registry studies have shown that violence occurs more frequently among people with mental disorders, like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, compared with control subjects, but that the increased risk is largely mediated by drug abuse and socio-economic deprivation. The aim of this study was to explore how patients who have committed violent or sexual crimes and have been sentenced to forensic psychiatric care by a Swedish court of law construed their criminal actions in terms of causes. Forty-six participants from six different Swedish forensic psychiatric clinics were included in the study. A semi-structured interview study was conducted and the data was analysed using a thematic analysis. A large group of the participants did not believe that the mental disorder played any role in the criminal events. Contributing causes that were mentioned were drug abuse and social factors.
Psychopathy, intelligence, and impulsivity in German violent offenders
Available online 2 December 2013
Fanny de Tribolet-Hardy | Knut Vohs | Andreas Mokros | Elmar Habermeyer
Abstract: Previous studies have reported numerous correlations between psychopathy and various personality traits, behavioural tendencies or clinical characteristics. The present study examined in greater depth the relationships between the components of psychopathy as measured by the Psychopathy Checklist—Revised (PCL-R) and intelligence as well as impulsivity. A total of ninety male violent offenders were recruited from a prison and a forensic–psychiatric hospital in Germany. All of the subjects were assessed using the PCL-R, the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11), and a short version of the German Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WIP). As expected, a canonical correlation analysis showed a negative association between spatial intelligence and the Factor 2 subtotal on the PCL-R (reckless lifestyle/antisociality). In addition, our results agreed with the assumption of an association between impulsivity and the subtotal for PCL-R Factor 2. The positive relationship between verbal intelligence and the subtotal for Factor 1 of the PCL-R (insincere, manipulative conduct/affective deficits) vanished after controlling for educational level. The results indicate that there is a relationship between the spatial components of intelligence and the concept of psychopathy as described by Hare. This result supports the spatial impairment aetiological model of antisocial behaviour.
First report from the Swedish National Forensic Psychiatric Register (SNFPR)
Available online 2 December 2013
Alessio Degl' Innocenti | Linda B. Hassing | Ann-Sophie Lindqvist | Hans Andersson | Lars Eriksson | Frances Hagelbäck Hanson | Nina Möller | Thomas Nilsson | Björn Hofvander | Henrik Anckarsäter
Abstract: To the best of our knowledge, the present register is the only nationwide forensic psychiatric patient register in the world. The aim of this article is to describe the content of the Swedish National Forensic Psychiatric Register (SNFPR) for Swedish forensic patients for the year 2010. The subjects are individuals who, in connection with prosecution due to criminal acts, have been sentenced to compulsory forensic psychiatric treatment in Sweden. The results show that in 2010, 1476 Swedish forensic patients were assessed in the SNFPR; 1251 (85%) were males and 225 (15%) were females. Almost 60% of the patients had a diagnosis of schizophrenia, with a significantly higher frequency among males than females. As many as 70% of the patients had a previous history of outpatient psychiatric treatment before becoming a forensic psychiatric patient, with a mean age at first contact with psychiatric care of about 20years old for both sexes. More than 63% of the patients had a history of addiction, with a higher proportion of males than females. Furthermore, as many as 38% of all patients committed crimes while under the influence of alcohol and/or illicit drugs. This was more often the case for men than for women. Both male and female patients were primarily sentenced for crimes related to life and death (e.g., murder, assault). However, there were more females than males in treatment for general dangerous crimes (e.g., arson), whereas men were more often prosecuted for crimes related to sex. In 2010, as many as 70% of all forensic patients in Sweden had a prior sentence for a criminal act, and males were prosecuted significantly more often than females. The most commonly prescribed pharmaceuticals for both genders were antipsychotics, although more women than men were prescribed other pharmaceuticals, such as antidepressants, antiepileptics, and anxiolytics. The result from the present study might give clinicians an opportunity to reflect upon and challenge their traditional treatment methods.
Theorising sexual media and sexual violence in a forensic setting: Men's talk about pornography and offending
Available online 2 December 2013
Dave Mercer | Liz Perkins
Abstract: This article reports findings from a discourse analytic study which critically explored the language of mental health nurses, and detained sexual offenders, in relation to pornography in one high-security hospital. It recognised previous empirical investigation, and pro-feminist theorising, into mediated representations and male sexual violence, but situated the research process in a forensic nursing context. Decision-making about access to, or restriction of, commercial sexual literature, as a component of therapeutic intervention and offender management, reveals tensions between service-user rights and treatment goals. The aim was to access nurse and patient talk in a specific culture. Semi-structured interviews with eighteen nursing staff, and nine patients, were used to co-construct accounts of pornography, sexual offending, and treatment. Analysis and data collection were undertaken concurrently. Interviews were audio-taped and transcribed. Data was coded to identify theoretical/conceptual themes and sub-themes representing discursive repertoires. Attention was given to how textual variation positioned respondents in relation to each other and the institution. Findings suggested collective male talk textured the environment, promoted gendered inequality, marginalised female nurses, and undermined rehabilitation. Shared discourse enabled male staff and patients to relate to each other as men, while maintaining distance through constructions of otherness. Discussion focuses on discriminatory discursive-practices, where men's talk about pornography and sexual violence embodied gendered knowledge/experience and contributed to a toxic culture. Consideration is given to ways of resisting institutional impediments and promoting positive therapeutic relations.
When benefitting a patient increases the risk for harm for third persons — The case of treating pedophilic Parkinsonian patients with deep brain stimulation
Available online 26 November 2013
Sabine Müller | Henrik Walter | Markus Christen
Abstract: This paper investigates the question whether it is ethically justified to treat Parkinsonian patients with known or suspected pedophilia with deep brain stimulation — given increasing evidence that this treatment might cause impulse control disorders, disinhibition, and hypersexuality. This specific question is not as exotic as it looks at a first glance. First, the same issue is raised for all other types of sexual orientation or behavior which imply a high risk for harming other persons, e.g. sexual sadism. Second, there are also several (psychotropic) drugs as well as legal and illegal leisure drugs which bear severe risks for other persons. We show that Beauchamp and Childress' biomedical ethics fails to derive a veto against medical interventions which produce risks for third persons by making the patients dangerous to others. Therefore, our case discussion reveals a blind spot of the ethics of principles. Although the first intuition might be to forbid the application of deep brain stimulation to pedophilic patients, we argue against such a simple way out, since in some patients the reduction of dopaminergic drugs allowed by deep brain stimulation of the nucleus subthalamicus improves impulsive control disorders, including hypersexuality. Therefore, we propose a strategy consisting of three steps: (1) risk assessment, (2) shared decision-making, and (3) risk management and safeguards.
The Portuguese adaptation of the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale (GSS1) in a sample of inmates
Available online 26 November 2013
Rute Pires | Danilo R. Silva | Ana Sousa Ferreira
Abstract: This paper comprises two studies which address the validity of the Portuguese adaptation of the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale, GSS1. In study 1, the means and standard deviations for the suggestibility results of a sample of Portuguese inmates (N=40, Mage=37.5years, SD=8.1) were compared to those of a sample of Icelandic inmates (Gudjonsson, 1997; Gudjonsson & Sigurdsson, 1996). Portuguese inmates' results were in line with the original results. In study 2, the means and standard deviations for the suggestibility results of the sample of Portuguese inmates were compared to those of a general Portuguese population sample (N=57, Mage=36.1years, SD=12.7). The forensic sample obtained significantly higher scores in suggestibility measures than the general population sample. ANOVA confirmed that the increased suggestibility in the inmates sample was due to the limited memory capacity of this latter group. Given that the results of both studies 1 and 2 are in keeping with the author's original results (Gudjonsson, 1997), this may be regarded as a confirmation of the validity of the Portuguese GSS1.
The 'beyond parental control' label in Nigeria
Available online 25 November 2013
Olayinka Atilola | Olayinka Omigbodun | Tolulope Bella-Awusah
Abstract: Recent reports in Nigeria indicate a geometric rise in incarcerated adolescents, with an overwhelming majority of this increase being attributed to adolescents being declared 'beyond parental control'. There is a nagging suspicion that the Nigerian juvenile justice system has over criminalised adolescents by declaring them 'beyond control' when behavioural problems have actually resulted from child abuse/neglect and family disruption. A study was undertaken in a juvenile justice institution in Nigeria to assess the adequacy of pre-incarceration parental care among adolescents that had been declared as 'beyond parental control'. The study included 75 adolescent boys that had been declared as 'beyond parental control' and a comparison group of 144 matched school going boys. It examined self-reports received from the adolescent boys regarding their pre-incarceration family life and social circumstances, as well as the behavioural problems they had experienced. The findings indicate that adolescent boys who were declared as 'beyond parental control' had a significantly higher lifetime history of behavioural problems than the comparison group, and they also had significantly higher indicators of pre-incarceration child abuse/neglect and problems with stability and consistency of primary support. These findings pose questions regarding the presumption of adequate parental care prior to the declaration of 'beyond parental control'. It also raises questions about child rights protection and juvenile justice reform in Nigeria.
Mental health law and the UN Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities
Available online 23 November 2013
George Szmukler | Rowena Daw | Felicity Callard
Abstract: People with a mental illness may be subject to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), depending on definitions of terms such as 'impairment', 'long-term' and the capaciousness of the word 'includes' in the Convention's characterisation of persons with disabilities. Particularly challenging under the CRPD is the scope, if any, for involuntary treatment.Conventional mental health legislation, such as the Mental Health Act (England and Wales) appears to violate, for example, Article 4 ('no discrimination of any kind on the basis of disability'), Article 12 (persons shall 'enjoy legal capacity on an equal basis with others in all aspects of life') and Article 14 ('the existence of a disability shall in no case justify a deprivation of liberty').We argue that a form of mental health law, such as the Fusion Law proposal, is consistent with the principles of the CRPD. Such law is aimed at eliminating discrimination against persons with a mental illness. It covers all persons regardless of whether they have a 'mental' or a 'physical' illness, and only allows involuntary treatment when a person's decision-making capability (DMC) for a specific treatment decision is impaired — whatever the health setting or cause of the impairment — and where supported decision making has failed. In addition to impaired DMC, involuntary treatment would require an assessment that such treatment gives the person's values and perspective paramount importance.
Mental health and fitness to plead proposals in England and Wales
Available online 22 November 2013
Faisal Mudathikundan | Oriana Chao | Andrew Forrester
Abstract: Proposals to reform fitness to plead legislation have been published by the Law Commission in England and Wales; they include a new test of decision making capacity and a new psychiatric test that has yet to be fully developed. Although proposals have met with some support, there have also been detractors. The history of fitness to plead is reviewed and current case law (including the 1836 Pritchard criteria) is examined. Although existing arrangements have been criticised, this may be attributable to inconsistent practical application, rather than inherent conceptual flaws. The Pritchard test has largely stood the test of time and has emerged relatively unscathed. Fitness to plead is not a medical construct, but rather a legal entity and any new test would be likely to introduce its own difficulties. A capacity based assessment could enhance debate and disagreement and increase court time in many cases, presenting new resource implications with questionable benefit. As the existing Pritchard criteria, amended by case law, already include a five limb test that closely resembles a capacity assessment (ability to plead to the indictment, to understand the course of the proceedings, to instruct a lawyer, to challenge a juror and to understand the evidence) and given the difficulties in introducing a functional test format in other jurisdictions, the Law Commission's proposals should now be set aside, perhaps for another day: reconsideration may be possible some decades hence, pending enhanced scientific developments within psychiatry and better understanding of the mind.
Examining the scope of questionable diagnostic reliability in Sexually Violent Predator (SVP) evaluations
Available online 22 November 2013
Anthony D. Perillo | Ashley H. Spada | Cynthia Calkins | Elizabeth L. Jeglic
Abstract: Research has suggested questionable reliability of diagnosing mental abnormality during Sexually Violent Predator (SVP) evaluations, despite this being a necessary requirement for SVP commitment. Findings have been inconsistent across studies, and little is known about the extent of such trends across diagnoses and clinicians. The current study includes data from 375 sex offenders referred for evaluation for SVP commitment in New Jersey. Clinicians (n=128) rendered a variety of diagnoses, most commonly Pedophilia. Results suggested questionable agreement across paraphilic and non-paraphilic diagnoses, although agreement was fair for diagnoses of Pedophilia. Further analyses of cases (n=49) involving clinicians receiving a large number of referrals (n=14) were generally consistent with these findings, with no outlier effect apparent. Findings suggest questionable diagnostic reliability to be a widespread issue in SVP evaluations, present across a variety of diagnoses and across the general body of clinicians involved in evaluations.
Compulsory mental health care in Norway: The treatment criterion
Available online 21 November 2013
Rigmor R. Diseth | Per A. Høglend
Abstract: The Norwegian government has chosen to retain a treatment criterion in the Mental Health Care Act despite the opposition of several user organizations. From a critical user perspective, the only reason for using coercion to require mental health treatment is that the individuals are in a state where they are an immediate danger to themselves and/or their surroundings. This articles aims, first, to provide an overview of research studies concerning the benefits or harmfulness of involuntary treatment after coerced admission and, second, to evaluate studies that try to compare involuntary with voluntary treatment. A systematic overview of studies of compulsory mental health care with regard to treatment criteria, coercion in mental health, and involuntary admission published over the last decade was examined in detail, along with a secondary manual search of references cited in identified publications. Few studies have been conducted on the effect of compulsory mental health care, and the results have been contradictory. More randomized studies are needed to document the kinds of effects that the use of compulsory treatment has on treatment results. Another issue that needs further examination is whether the use of coercion should be transferred to legal bodies with an adjudicatory process.
Early maladaptive schemas in convicted sexual offenders: Preliminary findings
Available online 20 November 2013
Joana Carvalho | Pedro J. Nobre
Abstract: Core cognitive schemas may play a role in the vulnerability for sexual offending. Identifying these schemas could help to conceptualize sexual crimes and rehabilitate convicted sexual offenders. The aim of this preliminary study was to explore the relationship between early maladaptive schemas (EMSs) and sexual offending, as well as how rapists and child sex molesters differ in terms of these schemas. Thirty-two men convicted for rape, 33 convicted for child sexual abuse, and 30 non-offenders were evaluated using the Young Schema Questionnaire (YSQ-S3) and the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI). Results showed that participants convicted for child sexual abuse presented significantly more schemas from the disconnection/rejection, impaired autonomy/performance, other directness, and over vigilance/inhibition domains than non-offenders, whereas rapists presented more schemas from the impaired autonomy/performance domain than non-offenders. Differences between sex offenders showed that child molesters presented more schemas of pessimism than rapists. Preliminary findings suggested that EMSs may impact sex offender's perceptions about themselves and about the world. Schema-focused therapy (Young, 1990, 1999) may thus be an acceptable approach to sex offender's psychological assessment and intervention.
Depressed but not legally mentally impaired
Available online 20 November 2013
Meron Wondemaghen
Abstract: This article examines the mental impairment (insanity) defense in the Australian state of Victoria and argues that the defense is successful only when offenders suffer from psychotic mental illnesses. This raises the question about how non-psychotic offenders are dealt with by the courts when they claim 'mental impairment' for serious acts of violence such as homicide, particularly when a relatively large number of perpetrators involved in homicide suffer from non-psychotic illnesses like depression. The analysis shows that depressive illnesses do not reach the threshold for mental impairment (legal insanity) such that they mitigate violent criminal behavior, although they can, arguably, diminish culpability. This article draws upon existing literature, qualitative analysis of two court cases and semi-structured interviews with four legal representatives to make its conclusions.
The blurred vision of Lady Justice for minors with mental disorders: Records of the juvenile court in Belgium
Available online 20 November 2013
Sofie Merlevede | Freya Vander Laenen | Leen Cappon
Abstract: PurposeThis study examined (1) the information present in juvenile court records in Belgium (Flanders) and (2) whether there are differences in information between records that mention a mental disorder and those that do not.MethodThe file study sample included 107 court records, and we used a Pearson's chi-square test and a t-test to analyze the information within those records.ResultsInformation in juvenile court records varied considerably. This variability was evident when we compared juvenile court records with and without mention of a mental disorder. Significantly more information about school-related problems, the functioning of the minor, and the occurrence of domestic violence was included in records that mentioned a mental disorder compared with records that did not.ConclusionThe content of the juvenile court records varied, particularly with regard to the mental health status of the minor in question. We suggest guidelines to standardize the information contained in juvenile court records.
Involuntary outpatient treatment in patients with severe mental illness: A one-year follow-up study
Available online 20 November 2013
G. Lera-Calatayud | M. Hernández-Viadel | C. Bellido-Rodriguez | C. Cañete-Nicolás | P. Asensio-Pascual | R. Calabuig-Crespo | C. Leal-Cercós
Abstract: IntroductionInvoluntary outpatient treatment (IOT) aims to ensure adherence to therapy in patients with serious mental disease who are unaware of their illness and for whom treatment discontinuation carries a high risk of relapse.ObjectivesTo evaluate the effectiveness of IOT in preventing relapse among patients with serious mental disease.MethodA retrospective observational study was carried out on all of the patients (n=140) receiving IOT in the city of Valencia, Spain. Hospital service uses (emergency care, admissions and mean stay times) during the 12months before and after the introduction of IOT were compared.ResultsPatients with schizophrenia, delusional disorder or schizoaffective disorder showed a significant reduction in the number of admissions and days spent in the psychiatry ward during the year of IOT. The reduction in the number of visits to the emergency department was only significant for the patients with schizophrenia.DiscussionWe conclude that involuntary outpatient treatment may be effective for patients with serious mental disease who are unaware of their illness and for whom treatment discontinuation carries a high risk of relapse.
Forensic psychiatric expert witnessing within the criminal justice system in Germany
Available online 20 November 2013
Norbert Konrad | Birgit Völlm
Abstract: In recent years, the number of occupied beds in German forensic–psychiatric hospitals has continued to rise. Diversion refers to the removal of offenders from the criminal justice system at any stage of the procedure and court proceedings. There are no specific diversion programs in Germany but diversion does in fact happen via legal regulations that are based on the construct of legal responsibility. The assessments of responsibility as well as risk are the core tasks of forensic–psychiatric expert witnessing in Germany. Recommendations of an interdisciplinary working group serve as a guide to operationalize this forensic–psychiatric task. These recommendations list formal minimum requirements for expert reports on the question of criminal responsibility and risk assessment as well as minimum standards regarding content and in writing the report.
Listening to voices: The use of phenomenology to differentiate malingered from genuine auditory verbal hallucinations
Available online 20 November 2013
Simon McCarthy-Jones | Phillip J. Resnick
Abstract: The experience of hearing a voice in the absence of an appropriate external stimulus, formally termed an auditory verbal hallucination (AVH), may be malingered for reasons such as personal financial gain, or, in criminal cases, to attempt a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. An accurate knowledge of the phenomenology of AVHs is central to assessing the veracity of claims to such experiences. We begin by demonstrating that some contemporary criminal cases still employ inaccurate conceptions of the phenomenology of AVHs to assess defendants' claims. The phenomenology of genuine, malingered, and atypical AVHs is then examined. We argue that, due to the heterogeneity of AVHs, the use of typical properties of AVHs as a yardstick against which to evaluate the veracity of a defendant's claims is likely to be less effective than the accumulation of instances of defendants endorsing statements of atypical features of AVHs. We identify steps towards the development of a formal tool for this purpose, and examine other conceptual issues pertinent to criminal cases arising from the phenomenology of AVHs.
Substance use disorders in forensic psychiatric patients
Available online 19 November 2013
Jolien van der Kraan | Robbert Jan Verkes | Kris Goethals | Annelies Vissers | Inti Brazil | Erik Bulten
Abstract: There is a lack of detailed information on the role of substance use disorders (SUD) as a substantial factor in offences and treatment in forensic psychiatric patients. The aim of this study was to get a better understanding of these specifics. Clinical records of 193 male patients admitted to a Dutch forensic psychiatric hospital were scrutinized on anamnestic, diagnostic and risk assessment data. One of the central findings was that the prevalence of SUDs was high. Patients with an SUD had a more extensive criminal history, unstable and deviant lifestyle and higher risk of violent behavior than patients without a substance use disorder. No differences were found in duration of treatment, aggressive incidents and leave. Another important finding was that a distinction could be made between patients with substance use as a primary criminogenic risk factor and patients with substance use as a secondary risk factor. Although substance use is identified as a general risk factor, this study supports the idea of sub categorization of patients with an SUD and emphasizes the need for a different treatment approach. Further study is needed to identify specific treatment approaches, based on more differentiated profiles of these patients.
Psychiatric care or social defense?
Available online 31 October 2013
Caroline Protais
Abstract: While some countries like Belgium chose a penal system clearly inspired by social-defense theories for mentally disturbed criminals, the French law hasn't been consistent and varies from the enlightened classical law and social-defense law. Indeed paragraph 1 of article 122-1 states that people whose discernment or control is abolished by a psychiatric disorder are non-responsible respecting the classical logic of law. On the other hand, Paragraph 2 of Article 122-1 allows the mentally ill to be judged responsible whereas no institution exists to take care about them. Then the system of psychiatric care in prisons present as a solution for professionals wishing to promote a system where people are punished and socially rehabilitated. Thus these forensic psychiatrists don't refer to paragraph 1 of article 122-1 and even people presenting serious mental disorders are considered responsible. Moreover, if a controversy has always existed between psychiatrists who argue a large conception of mental irresponsibility and professionals who defend the right to punish and to conclude that responsibility even for mentally disturbed criminals, the controversy becomes more important in French forensic psychiatry after the Second World War. If until the 1970s the practice of imposing responsibility for mentally ill individuals shows itself as a humanism, it occurs more within a security perspective today.
Treatment as punishment: Forensic psychiatry in The Netherlands (1870–2005)
Available online 31 October 2013
Harry Oosterhuis
Abstract: This article provides an overview of the development of forensic psychiatry in the Netherlands from the late nineteenth to the early twenty-first century. The first part addresses the ways forensic psychiatry established itself in the period 1870–1925 and focuses on its interrelatedness with forensic practice, psychiatry's professionalization, the role of the government, the influence of the so-called New Direction in legal thinking and (Italian and French) anthropology of crime, and the debates among physicians as well as between psychiatrists and legal experts on the proper approach of mentally disturbed offenders. From the mid-1920s on the so-called 'psychopaths laws' anchored forensic psychiatry in the Dutch legal system. The second part zooms in on the enactment of these laws, which formalized special measures for mentally disturbed delinquents. These implied a combination of sentencing and forced admission to and treatment in a mental institution or some other form of psychiatric surveillance. The article deals with the meaning, reach and consequences of this legislation, its debate by psychiatrists and legal experts, the number of delinquents affected, the offenses for which they were sentenced and the (therapeutic) regime in forensic institutions. The goal of the Dutch legislation on psychopaths was ambiguous: if it was designed to protect society against assumed dangerous criminals, at the same time they were supposed to receive psychiatric treatment to enable their return to regular social life again. These legal and medical objectives were at odds with each other and as a result discussions about collective versus individual interests as well as about the usefulness and the effects of this legislation kept flaring up. To this day the history of this legislation is characterized by the intrinsic tension between punishment and security on the one hand and treatment and re-socialization on the other. Whether at some point one or the other prevailed was largely tied to the social climate with respect to law, order and authority.
Emergent authority and expert knowledge: Psychiatry and criminal responsibility in the UK
Available online 30 October 2013
Arlie Loughnan | Tony Ward
Abstract: In the UK context, the rise of the discipline and practice of forensic psychiatry is intimately connected with the concurrent development of principles and practices relating to criminal responsibility. In this article, we seek to chart the relationship between psychiatry and the principles and practices of criminal responsibility in the UK over the early modern, modern and late modern periods. With a focus on claims about authority and expert knowledge around criminal responsibility, we suggest that these claims have been in a state of perpetual negotiation and that, as a result, claims to authority over and knowledge about criminal non-responsibility on the part of psychiatrists and psychiatry are most accurately understood as emergent and contingent. The apparent formalism of legal discourse has tended to conceal the extent to which legal policy has been preoccupied with maintaining the primacy of lay judgments in criminal processes of evaluation and adjudication. While this policy has been somewhat successful in the context of the trial – particularly the murder trial – it has been undermined by administrative procedures surrounding the trial, including those that substitute treatment for punishment without, or in spite of, a formal determination of criminal responsibility.
Voluntary and therapeutic castration of sex offenders in The Netherlands (1938–1968)
Available online 26 October 2013
Theo van der Meer
Abstract: Between 1938 and 1968 some 400 sex offenders in the Netherlands who by court orders had been put at 'the discretion of the government' and were incarcerated in asylums for the criminally insane, 'voluntarily' submitted themselves to 'therapeutic' castration, the surgical removal of their testes. Prior to 1938, inspired by a Danish castration act from 1929, and urged by asylums that were overcrowded by sex offenders, the ethics of the surgery had been discussed for nearly a decade amongst theologians, (forensic) psychiatrists, jurists and politicians, mostly in the context of eugenic sterilization. Discussions of conflicting Catholic, Protestant and non-denominational points of view vis-à-vis eugenics resulted in consensus about 'therapeutic' and 'voluntary' castration. Sexual deviancy, according to some, was like a tumor located in the testes, which could therefore be removed without moral objections and the person was thus cured of his disease. Although obviously related to forensic psychiatry and concerned with issues like protection of society and treatment of offenders, discussions were never held in a strictly forensic context. Unlike in other countries in which castration policies were enforced, in The Netherlands the surgery was never embodied in law but subject to an informal protocol that covered political accountability. To satisfy Catholic objections references to eugenic aims were omitted from the documents, as were references to castration as a penalty.Based on international and Dutch literature (from both before and after 1938) as well as case histories, this article will show that the compromise about the therapeutic value of castration had no basis in medical knowledge, while 'voluntariness' (as elsewhere) was an acknowledged fallacy once surgeries had started. It was also acknowledged that castration did not really cure deviancy, but curbed libido and helped the castrate to suppress his urges. Nonetheless, because of the eugenic origins of discussions, associated with persistent confusion about the difference between castration and sterilization, it never became fully clear whether the surgery was meant to curb libido or to prevent the offenders from begetting inferior progeny.
Forensic psychiatry and the birth of the criminal insane asylum in modern Italy
Available online 25 October 2013
Mary Gibson
Abstract: This paper focuses on the creation of the criminal insane asylum in Italy between unification in 1861 and World War I. The establishment of criminal insane asylums was a triumph of the positivist criminology of Cesare Lombroso, who advocated for an institution to intern insane criminals in his classic work, Criminal Man (1876). As a context for the analysis of the birth of the criminal insane asylum in Italy, this essay also outlines the history of the insanity plea in Italian criminal law and the young discipline of psychiatry during the fifty years after Italian unification.
Madness and crime: Historical perspectives on forensic psychiatry
Available online 21 October 2013
Harry Oosterhuis | Arlie Loughnan
The irresponsible criminal in Norwegian medico-legal discourse
Available online 18 October 2013
Svein Atle Skålevåg
Abstract: This article discusses discourses on criminal responsibility in Norway in the 19th and 20th centuries, in light of Michel Foucault's regimes of power and knowledge: the apparatuses of law, discipline and security. The passing of two criminal codes, in 1842 and 1902 marks a development from neo-classical law to a law influenced by positivist criminology. In these consecutive ways of thinking law, the figure of the irresponsible criminal constituted a contentious issue. From being a figure marking the limits of the law, the irresponsible criminal became an object to be disciplined and a security threat. This redefinition of criminal responsibility created or was created by new groups of experts speaking from positions increasingly close to the criminals. The most important professional group was of course the psychiatrists, that emerged in Norway as a distinct professional group in the second half of the 19th century, and whose influence in the legislative process culminated in the 1920s.
Psychiatrists, criminals, and the law: Forensic psychiatry in Switzerland 1850–1950
Available online 18 October 2013
Urs Germann
Abstract: Between 1880 and 1950, Swiss psychiatrists established themselves as experts in criminal courts. In this period, the judicial authorities required psychiatric testimonies in a rising number of cases. As a result, more offenders than ever before were declared mentally deficient and, eventually, sent to psychiatric asylums. Psychiatrists also enhanced their authority as experts at the political level. From the very beginning, they got involved in the preparatory works for a nationwide criminal code. In this article, I argue that these trends toward medicalization of crime were due to incremental processes, rather than spectacular institutional changes. In fact, Swiss psychiatrists gained recognition as experts due to their daily interactions with judges, public prosecutors, and legal counsels. At the same time, the spread of medical expertise had serious repercussions on psychiatric institutions. From 1942 onwards, asylums had to deal with a growing number of "criminal psychopaths," which affected ward discipline and put psychiatry's therapeutic efficiency into question. The defensive way in which Swiss psychiatrists reacted to this predicament was crucial to the further development of forensic psychiatry. For the most part, it accounts for the subdiscipline's remarkable lack of specialization until the 1990s.
Mental disorder and criminality in Canada
Available online 15 October 2013
James E. Moran
Abstract: This article examines the relationship between mental disorder and criminality in Canada from the colonial period to the landmark 1992 Mental Disorder Amendments that followed the passing of Bill C-30. The history of this relationship has been shaped by longstanding formal and informal systems of social regulation, by the contests of federal–provincial jurisdiction, by changing trends in the legal and psychiatric professions, and by amendments to the federal Criminal Code. A study of these longer-term features demonstrates that there has been no linear path of progress in Canada's response to mentally unwell offenders. Those caught in the web of crime and mental disorder have been cast and recast over the past 150years by the changing dynamics of criminal law, psychiatry, and politics. A long historical perspective suggests how earlier and more contemporary struggles over mental disorder and criminality are connected, how these struggles are bound by historical circumstance, and how a few relatively progressive historical moments emerging from these struggles might be recovered, and theorized to advantage.
Topographies of forensic practice in Imperial Germany
Available online 12 October 2013
Eric J. Engstrom
Abstract: This article examines the topography and "cultural machinery" of forensic jurisdictions in Imperial Germany. It locates the sites at which boundary disputes between psychiatric and legal professionals arose and explores the strategies and practices that governed the division of expert labor between them. It argues that the over-determined paradigms of 'medicalization' and 'biologization' have lost much of their explanatory force and that historians need to refocus their attention on the institutional and administrative configuration of forensic practices in Germany. After first sketching the statutory context of those practices, the article explores how contentious jurisdictional negotiations pitted various administrative, financial, public security, and scientific interests against one another. The article also assesses the contested status of psychiatric expertise in the courtroom, as well as post-graduate forensic psychiatric training courses and joint professional organizations, which drew the two professional communities closer together and mediated their jurisdictional disputes.
Russian and Soviet forensic psychiatry: Troubled and troubling
Available online 12 October 2013
Dan Healey
Abstract: Russian forensic psychiatry is defined by its troubled and troubling relationship to an unstable state, a state that was not a continuous entity during the modern era. From the mid-nineteenth century, Russia as a nation-state struggled to reform, collapsed, re-constituted itself in a bloody civil war, metastasized into a violent "totalitarian" regime, reformed and stagnated under "mature socialism" and then embraced capitalism and "managed democracy" at the end of the twentieth century. These upheavals had indelible effects on policing and the administration of justice, and on psychiatry's relationship with them. In Russia, physicians specializing in medicine of the mind had to cope with rapid and radical changes of legal and institutional forms, and sometimes, of the state itself. Despite this challenging environment, psychiatrists showed themselves to be active professionals seeking to guide the transformations that inevitably touched their work. In the second half of the nineteenth century debates about the role of psychiatry in criminal justice took place against a backdrop of increasingly alarming terrorist activity, and call for revolution. While German influence, with its preference for hereditarianism, was strong, Russian psychiatry was inclined toward social and environmental explanations of crime. When revolution came in 1917, the new communist regime quickly institutionalized forensic psychiatry. In the aftermath of revolution, the institutionalization of forensic psychiatry "advanced" with each turn of the state's transformation, with profound consequences for practitioners' independence and ethical probity. The abuses of Soviet psychiatry under Stalin and more intensively after his death in the 1960s–80s remain under-researched and key archives are still classified. The return to democracy since the late 1980s has seen mixed results for fresh attempts to reform both the justice system and forensic psychiatric practice.
Forensic psychiatric units in Italy from the 1960s to the present
Available online 11 October 2013
Christian Giuseppe De Vito
Abstract: This article addresses the long-standing continuities in the history of the Italian forensic psychiatric units and views them as the result of conflicting forces, interests, mentalities and strategies at the cross-road of forensic psychiatry, psychiatry, prison and health services. It focuses on the period from the 1960s to the present and deals with, among other issues, the long-term impact of the anti-asylum movements and the on-going debate on the 'phasing out' of the forensic psychiatric units.
Premises and evidence in the rhetoric of assisted suicide and euthanasia
September–December 2013
Brian L. Mishara | David N. Weisstub
Abstract: In debates about euthanasia and assisted suicide, it is rare to find an article that begins with an expression of neutral interest and then proceeds to examine the various arguments and data before drawing conclusions based upon the results of a scholarly investigation. Although authors frequently give the impression of being impartial in their introduction, they invariably reach their prior conclusions. Positions tend to be clearly dichotomized: either one believes that the practice of euthanasia or assisted suicide is totally acceptable or completely unacceptable in a just and moral society. Where there is some admission of a gray zone of incertitude, authors attempt to persuade us that their beliefs (preferences) are the only sensible way to resolve outstanding dilemmas.The practice of vehemently promoting a "pro" or "con" position may be useful when societies must decide to either legalize certain practices or not. Although only a handful of countries have thus far accepted the legal practice of euthanasia or assisted suicide (Belgium, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, the U.S. states of Montana, Oregon, Vermont and Washington, and Switzerland), scholarly articles in recent trends mainly promote legalization, to the point of recommending expansion of the current practices. Is this a case of the philosophers being ahead of their time in promoting and rationalizing the wave of the future? Alternatively, does the small number of countries that have legalized these practices indicate a substantial gap between the beliefs and desires of common citizens and the universe of the 'abstracted realm'? For the time being, what we do know is that more countries and states are debating legalization of euthanasia or assisted suicide, the nature of laws and legal practices vary greatly and both ethical and empirical assessments of current practices are the subject of much controversy.This article presents an examination of the premises and evidence in the rhetoric of assisted suicide and euthanasia. Inasmuch as any analysis cannot be totally impartial, we do not contend that our analysis is without influence from our experiences and philosophical affinities. Notwithstanding this caveat, we venture to propose that our scrutiny of the arguments and empirical data may offer some guidance to individuals who are attempting to reach practical conclusions based upon the available evidence, whether empirical or rationalized.
Quebec proposition of Medical Aid in Dying: A palliative care perspective
September–December 2013
Mélanie Vachon
Abstract: The government of Quebec (Canada) is poised to adopt a proposition to legalize euthanasia in the form of "Medical Aid in Dying," which presents a new option for end-of-life care. This proposition arouses concerns among palliative care providers. The aim of this article is to provide a palliative care perspective on Quebec's proposition to legalize euthanasia. Based on the epistemological and methodological framework of critical theory, the following three questions are raised: First, in Quebec's current state of the law, is it possible to relieve the suffering of end-of-life patients? Second, can the Quebec proposition to legalize euthanasia in specific circumstances be harmful? Third, is the Quebec proposition on euthanasia compatible with palliative care and social values? In conclusion, recommendations and alternatives to the current Quebec proposition are suggested.
The terminal, the futile, and the psychiatrically disordered
September–December 2013
Michael J. Cholbi
Abstract: The various jurisdictions worldwide that now legally permit assisted suicide (or voluntary euthanasia) vary concerning the medical conditions needed to be legally eligible for assisted suicide. Some jurisdictions require that an individual be suffering from an unbearable and futile medical condition that cannot be alleviated. Others require that individuals must be suffering from a terminal illness that will result in death within a specified timeframe, such as six months.Popular and academic discourse about assisted suicide paradigmatically focuses on individuals with 'physical,' i.e., non-psychiatric medical conditions, such as cancer or AIDS. Here I defend analyses of the notions of unbearable suffering, futility, and terminality that imply that, regardless of which of these medical conditions is invoked, at least some individuals with severe and persistent psychiatric illnesses satisfy these conditions and ought to be classified as legally eligible for assisted suicide. The legal and moral case for a right to assisted suicide is therefore not in principle weaker for the severely psychiatrically disordered than for those with 'typical' terminal or futile medical conditions.
Physician-assisted suicide of patients with dementia. A medical ethical analysis with a special focus on patient autonomy
September–December 2013
Jakov Gather | Jochen Vollmann
Abstract: For many years there has been a controversial international debate on physician-assisted suicide (PAS). While proponents of PAS regularly refer to the unbearable suffering and the right of self-determination of incurably ill patients, critics often warn about the diverse risks of abuse.In our article, we aim to present ethical arguments for and against PAS for patients in an early stage of dementia. Our focus shall be on ethical questions of autonomy, conceptual and empirical findings on competence and the assessment of mental capacity to make health care decisions. While the capacity to make health care decisions represents an ethically significant precondition for PAS, it becomes more and more impaired in the course of the dementia process.We present conditions that should be met in order to ethically justify PAS for patients with dementia. From both a psychiatric and an ethical perspective, a thorough differential diagnosis and an adequate medical and psychosocial support for patients with dementia considering PAS and their relatives should be guaranteed. If, after due deliberation, the patient still wishes assistance with suicide, a transparent and documented assessment of competence should be conducted by a professional psychiatrist.
Aboriginal youth suicide in Quebec: The contribution of public policy for prevention
September–December 2013
Michel Tousignant | Livia Vitenti | Nathalie Morin
Abstract: The high rate of youth suicide in some First Nations villages of Northern Quebec is an important public health problem. Based on a six-year field study in three villages belonging to the Atikamekw and Anishinabe groups, this paper proposes changes in three areas of social policy that could contribute to prevention of youth suicide. These three areas are: youth protection, administration of justice, and housing. An argument is made first to adapt the youth protection law of Quebec and to give greater responsibility to communities in individual cases in order to prevent child placement outside the villages. Regarding the administration of justice, we suggest initiatives to encourage rapid prosecution of crimes on reserves and the adoption of an approach based on reconciliation between perpetrator and victim. Finally, we indicate how housing measures could help safeguard children's wellbeing given that overcrowding can contribute to suicide. The discussion also proposes that these three key changes in social policy could be relevant in other Aboriginal communities both within and outside of Quebec.
Physician assisted suicide: The great Canadian euthanasia debate
September–December 2013
Arthur Schafer
Abstract: A substantial majority of Canadians favours a change to the Criminal Code which would make it legally permissible, subject to careful regulation, for patients suffering from incurable physical illness to opt for either physician assisted suicide (PAS) or voluntary active euthanasia (VAE). This discussion will focus primarily on the arguments for and against decriminalizing physician assisted suicide, with special reference to the British Columbia case of Lee Carter vs. Attorney General of Canada. The aim is to critique the arguments and at the same time to describe the contours of the current Canadian debate. Both ethical and legal issues raised by PAS are clarified. Empirical evidence available from jurisdictions which have followed the regulatory route is presented and its relevance to the slippery slope argument is considered. The arguments presented by both sides are critically assessed. The conclusion suggested is that evidence of harms to vulnerable individuals or to society, consequent upon legalization, is insufficient to support continued denial of freedom to those competent adults who seek physician assistance in hastening their death.
First do no harm: pressing concerns regarding euthanasia in Belgium
September–December 2013
Raphael Cohen-Almagor
Abstract: This article is concerned with the practice of euthanasia in Belgium. Background information is provided; then major developments that have taken place since the enactment of the Belgian Act on Euthanasia are analysed. Concerns are raised about (1) the changing role of physicians and imposition on nurses to perform euthanasia; (2) the physicians' confusion and lack of understanding of the Act on Euthanasia; (3) inadequate consultation with an independent expert; (4) lack of notification of euthanasia cases, and (5) organ transplantations of euthanized patients. Some suggestions designed to improve the situation and prevent abuse are offered.
Moral individualism and elective death
September–December 2013
C.G. Prado
Abstract: Moral individualism (Brooks, 2011; Smith, 2011) is a contemporary interpretation of morality as entirely a matter of personal choice. It is a popular rather than theory-based interpretation and has a number of social generative sources related to present-day preoccupation with individuality and personal distinctiveness. A key generative source is popularization of postmodernism, which prioritizes self-reinvention and provides moral individualism with the appearance of intellectual legitimacy. Moral individualism is a deeply flawed misconception of morality because it abolishes moral communality. My concern in this paper is that in doing so, it seriously jeopardizes productive discussion of the moral permissibility of elective death or choosing to die in despairingly and dire circumstances.
Defending the indefensible? Psychiatry, assisted suicide and human freedom
September–December 2013
Malcolm Parker
Abstract: The siege guns of the forces for change to euthanasia and assisted suicide laws have been pounding for decades, but the longstanding proscription on these practices has held out in all but a few jurisdictions. A few psychiatrists have enlisted with the challengers, but many remain on the battlements, defending the impermissibility of active assistance in dying. Given the long history of the separation of church and state and the significant secularisation of society; the recognition by the law of both acts and omissions as legal causes; lenient sentences for mercy killers; critiques of the "psychiatriatisation" of different aspects of life; and the consistency of public opinion, this recalcitrant stand bespeaks undercurrents and positions that are often by rationalised or camouflaged, and which call for exploration. In this paper, I examine connections between psychiatry and conceptualisations of harm, suffering and natural death; medicalisation, psychiatrisation and medical paternalism; decision-making capacity, rationality and diagnosis; recent legal developments; social pluralism; and religious intuitionism. I conclude that psychiatrists and the psychiatry profession, concerned as they are with enlarging the province of human freedom, should begin a more transparent rapprochement with those they would repel.
The clinician's dilemma: Two dimensions of ethical care
September–December 2013
Grant Gillett | Joshua Chamberlain
Abstract: There is a continuing intense medico–ethico–legal debate around legalized euthanasia and physician assisted suicide such that ethically informed clinicians often agree with the arguments but feel hesitant about the conclusion, especially when it may bring about a change in law. We argue that this confusion results from the convergence of two continua that underpin the conduct of a clinician and are especially prominent in psychiatry. The two continua concern the duty of care and the importance of patient autonomy and they do not quite map into traditional divides in debates about sanctity of life, paternalism, and autonomy. As ethical dimensions, they come into sharp focus in the psychological complexities of end-of-life care and they form two key factors in most ethical and legal or disciplinary deliberations about a clinician's actions. Whereas both dimensions are important when a clinician reflects on what s/he has done or should do, they need careful balancing in a request for euthanasia or physician assisted suicide where the patient wants to take a decisive role in his or her own end-of-life care. However, end-of-life is also a situation where clinicians often encounter 'cries for help' so that both continua are importantly in play. Balancing these two continua without using blunt legal instruments is often required in psychiatric care in such a way as to problematize the idea that patient decisions should dominate the care options available. A simplistic approach to that issue arguably plays into what has been called an 'impoverished construction of life and death' and, some would say, devalues the basic commitments fundamental to medical care.
Assisted suicide through the prism of the right to life
September–December 2013
Danuta Mendelson | Mirko Bagaric
Abstract: Part of the reason for the ongoing confusion regarding the status of assisted suicide is the cluttered moral and legal matrix that is normally invoked to evaluate the practice. It results in a calculus that is impossible to coherently unravel, allowing commentators to tenably assert any position. The authors attempt to inject clarity into the debate by focusing on the issue through the lens of the most important interest at stake: the right to life. It is arguable that while there are well-established exceptions to the right to life, they only apply where the right to life is itself at stake (such as self-defence). There is no sound argument for suggesting that the circumstances underpinning suicide constitute another exception to the right to life. Thus, suicide and assisted suicide are unjustifiable. An analysis of the empirical data in jurisdictions where assisted suicide has been legalised suggests that legalisation leads to an increase in assisted suicides. The adverse indirect consequences of the often ostensibly compassionate act of assisted suicide outweigh any supposed benefits from the practice. It follows that assisted suicide should lead to criminal sanctions. At the same time, it is important to acknowledge that, paradoxically, the right to life arguments against assisted suicide mandate greater community measures to eliminate or reduce the causes of suicide.
Depression and suicide are natural kinds: Implications for physician-assisted suicide
September–December 2013
Jonathan Y. Tsou
Abstract: In this article, I argue that depression and suicide are natural kinds insofar as they are classes of abnormal behavior underwritten by sets of stable biological mechanisms. In particular, depression and suicide are neurobiological kinds characterized by disturbances in serotonin functioning that affect various brain areas (i.e., the amygdala, anterior cingulate, prefrontal cortex, and hippocampus). The significance of this argument is that the natural (biological) basis of depression and suicide allows for reliable projectable inferences (i.e., predictions) to be made about individual members of a kind. In the context of assisted suicide, inferences about the decision-making capacity of depressed individuals seeking physician-assisted suicide are of special interest. I examine evidence that depression can hamper the decision-making capacity of individuals seeking assisted suicide and discuss some implications.
Physician-assisted suicide in psychiatry and loss of hope
September–December 2013
Ron Berghmans | Guy Widdershoven | Ineke Widdershoven-Heerding
Abstract: In the Netherlands, euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide (PAS) are considered acceptable medical practices in specific circumstances. The majority of cases of euthanasia and PAS involve patients suffering from cancer. However, in 1994 the Dutch Supreme Court in the so-called Chabot-case ruled that "the seriousness of the suffering of the patient does not depend on the cause of the suffering", thereby rejecting a distinction between physical (or somatic) and mental suffering. This opened the way for further debate about the acceptability of PAS in cases of serious and refractory mental illness. An important objection against offering PAS to mentally ill patients is that this might reinforce loss of hope, and demoralization. Based on an analysis of a reported case, this argument is evaluated. It is argued that offering PAS to a patient with a mental illness who suffers unbearably, enduringly and without prospect of relief does not necessarily imply taking away hope and can be ethically acceptable.
The problem of the possible rationality of suicide and the ethics of physician-assisted suicide
September–December 2013
Héctor Wittwer
Abstract: Opponents of the legalization of physician assisted suicide (PAS) often claim that physicians must not give a helping hand to suicidal patients because (i) it is morally forbidden to help somebody to carry out an action which is inherently irrational and which will probably cause him severe harm, and (ii) the act of self-killing is necessarily irrational and self-harming. The article focuses on the second premise of this paternalistic argument against the moral permissibility of PAS and its legalization. First, it is shown that this premise can be understood in two ways, depending on whether the predicate "irrational" is taken to refer to a human being's lack of the capacity to decide and act rationally or irrationally, or to the property of the decision to end one's life. Whereas the first variant of the premise stating that all suicidal individuals lack the capacity to act rationally can only be verified or falsified by empirical studies, the second assumption is a normative one which only philosophy can deal with. Restated in another way, it says that is always rationally forbidden to kill oneself because the decision to end one's own life is necessarily irrational. The five arguments which have been brought forward to justify this claim are analyzed and criticized. It is argued that there is no valid argument for the necessary irrationality of suicide. Hence, the claim that PAS is morally forbidden and, therefore, ought not to be legalized cannot rest on that premise.
Physician-assisted dying and psychiatry: Recent developments in the Netherlands
September–December 2013
Hans Pols | Stephanie Oak
Abstract: The Netherlands was one of the first countries in the world to establish a legal framework for physician-assisted dying (PAD). In this article, we provide an overview of the public, political, legal, and medical debates on physician-assisted dying in the Netherlands, focusing on the role of psychiatry and mental illness. The number of individuals with chronic mental illness requesting PAD has been relatively small (although the number can be expected to increase because of the activities of various civic organizations advocating the right to die) and Dutch psychiatrists have been extremely reluctant to respond to such requests. Nevertheless, mental conditions have been central to the public debate on PAD by helping to define the nature and limits of current legislation and professional practice. Although a few Dutch psychiatrists have campaigned to increase the involvement of psychiatrists and many support PAD in principle, the majority has been hesitant to engage in PAD despite increasing public pressure.
Rational suicide, assisted suicide, and indirect legal paternalism
September–December 2013
Thomas Schramme
Abstract: This article argues in favour of three related claims: First, suicide is not an immoral act. If people autonomously choose to kill themselves, this ought to be respected. Second, we can deem the desire to die comprehensible, and even rational, when the person contemplating suicide does not see a meaning in her life. This assessment is not based on a metaphysically dubious comparison between the actual life of a person and the supposed state of being dead. Third, from the first two theses it does not automatically follow that we should allow other people to help someone who autonomously and rationally chooses to die to pursue this plan. To argue against indirect legal paternalism, the practice of legally preventing someone else to assist a person to perform a suicide or to be killed on request, needs additional reasons. It is argued that assisted suicide and voluntary active euthanasia can indeed be justified by establishing a claim of persons who want to die but are not able to kill themselves. This mainly means that being really free to die should be interpreted as involving the means to fulfil one's desire to die.


text:
KARLO Dizon has officially announced his endorsement of incumbent Guam Delegate Madeleine Z. Bordallo in the coming general election this November.
Dizon lost to Bordallo in the primary election last Saturday but has emphasized his commitment to the Democratic Party of Guam.
"The new way forward means pursuing a better quality of life for the people of Guam," Dizon said. "I fully support Congresswoman Bordallo this coming November, and I look forward to working with the congresswoman and a united Democratic Party in building a stronger economy for our island."
Bordallo is elated to have Dizon and his team on board.
"I am deeply honored that Karlo Dizon and his campaign team have agreed to join with us hand-in-hand for this most important election. He represents a fresh approach and new ideas for our Democratic Party. His leadership has drawn new voters who are young and energetic. We are proud Democrats together for a better Guam," she said.
Democratic Party of Guam executive director Carlo Branch expressed his appreciation as well.
"We thank Karlo for all of his hard work in this campaign," Branch said. "He has made our party younger, stronger, and even more connected to the needs of everyday people. With the Bordallo and Dizon campaigns united, they, along with Democratic senators and mayors, are ready to win in November."
He added Dizon and Bordallo will collaborate to win at a grassroots level and work on issues relevant and important to the community in preparation for the general election.
Dizon is also expected to play a central role in the Bordallo campaign in both policy and organizational areas.
Dizon endorses Bordallo for Guam Delegate
I shall remember you well, Karlo Dizon on your next bid for office. Congrats Congresswoman, keep up the good work para todo i tano'ta.
Perfectomundo! BIBA DEMOCRATS!!!!!! !

subset: commoncrawl


text:
AUSTIN From Governor Rick Perry - Gov. Rick Perry today released the following statement regarding President Obamas executive actions:
The Vice Presidents committee was appointed in response to the tragedy at Newtown, but very few of his recommendations have anything to do with what happened there.
Guns require a finger to pull the trigger. The sad young man who did that in Newtown was clearly haunted by demons and no gun law could have saved the children in Sandy Hook Elementary from his terror.
There is evil prowling in the world it shows up in our movies, video games and online fascinations, and finds its way into vulnerable hearts and minds. As a free people, let us choose what kind of people we will be. Laws, the only redoubt of secularism, will not suffice. Let us all return to our places of worship and pray for help. Above all, let us pray for our children.
In fact, the piling on by the political left, and their cohorts in the media, to use the massacre of little children to advance a pre-existing political agenda that would not have saved those children, disgusts me, personally. The second amendment to the Constitution is a basic right of free people and cannot be nor will it be abridged by the executive power of this or any other president.
Related Stories
- More Texas News
- National News
- International News
- Conn. man pleads not guilty in cyclist's death
- South Texas man gets 4 life sentences for drugs
- Pa. father, son charged with $580K scam
- Inmate guilty of trying to have Texas judge killed
- Judge gives teen probation for deadly DWI wreck
- Armored-car company takes stand after robberies
- 2 New Mexico men arrested in death of Texas woman
- Houston Chronicle names new managing editor
- Court won't revisit inmate's forced medication
- US files brief on New Mexico-Texas water dispute
- Subpoenas related to Ga. gov's ethics complaints
- NASA: Cooling pump on space station shuts down
- Detroit mayor touts accomplishments in last speech
- Senator: Staffer's home searched in investigation
- Jury struggling to reach verdict in ex-cop's case
- DHS fires employee running racist website
- Biden: Administration helping Holocaust survivors
- House votes to dig up veteran involved in homicide
- NY drug addict who ran cancer scam pleads guilty
- NYPD: Parents questioned in death of 4-month-old
- Ukraine's president is a political survivor
- Argentine looting toll: 10 dead, $90 million lost
- UN commander in Congo warns rebels: Disarm or else
- Russia may answer conventional attack with nukes
- Witness at UK hacking trial: Brooks, Morgan joked
- Pakistan: Lawyer for doctor who helped CIA has fled
- Court: Mladic has to testify in Karadzic trial
- Germany monitoring 17 fighters returned from Syria
- AP INTERVIEW: Israel PM an enigma, opposition says
- German in CIA case sentenced over prison assault
Coats & Kettles
Bring your good, clean used coat or cash donation to any Munro's location and help keep Southeast Texas warm this winter!
Find valuable information about buying your next car, including price quotes and your latest automotive news.
We Know Why You're Awake
We Know Why You're Awake. We can help.
Wedding Central
The greatest Southeast Texas story ever told. Share your wedding and engagement news!
Lost and Found Pets
These are pets that have been lost or found in the KFDM News Channel 6 viewing area.
No Text Zone
Texting While Driving Kills Thousands of People Each Year. Many More are Seriously Injured. You Can Help Make Our Roads a NO TEXT ZONE
Texas Lottery
Texas Lottery
Community Calendar
Check out our Community Calendar!
Baby Talk
Baby Talk with Nicole Murray.
KFDM Channel 6 Top Stories
Business News
GOP, Obama line up behind modest budget deal
WASHINGTON (AP) -- House Republicans are signaling support for a narrowly drawn, bipartisan budget deal.
Consumer News
Eds: APNewsNow.
DETROIT (AP) -- U.S. safety regulators are looking into whether a Hyundai Elantra recall should be expanded.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened a Recall Query to determine if 52,000 Elantra Touring cars from the 2009 through 2012 model years should be recalled. ...
Entertainment News
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Blake Shelton won't get his fourth win on "The Voice" -- at least not this season.
Get This
Science/Tech News
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- There are different sides of the online gambling debate.


text:
- April 4, 2013
- 12:51 p.m.
- Suggest removal
- Reply to this post
TOP_OfTheMorning writes:
I believe it should still be a 'public resource', but the deer farming industry has certainly ruined it for most hunters.
Might as well shoot a cow.
Want to participate in the conversation? Become a subscriber today. Subscribers can read and comment on any story, anytime. Non-subscribers will only be able to view comments on select stories.


text:
Intel showed off a low-power communications research project at the firm's Intel Developer Forum (IDF) on Thursday, which uses wine to charge mobile devices, an energy-efficient alcoholic's dream.
The project was demonstrated by Dr Genevieve Bell, Intel's forward thinking anthropologist executive who has been studying ways to solve the chipmaker's mobile computing problems.
"Some people turn water into wine, here at Intel we're turning wine into electricity," Bell said.
Demonstrating what is probably the perfect solution for energy-conscious drinkers out there, an Intel Labs researcher talked through the project on stage alongside Bell, showing off a low-power processor and an accelerometer that were powered by a glass of wine.
"Here's a peek inside the Intel Labs that might redefine what you think low power really is. Here I have a low-power communications solution, a low-power processing solution and an accelerometer," he exclaimed.
"When I talk about low power you might think low power as in one watt or two watt solutions you find in a phone. Today I'm not here to talk about Watts, or milli-Watts, but I'm here to talk about micro-Watts."
The researcher boasted that the computing solutions being worked on in Intel Labs are so low in power that in the future we'll be able to "power them by the heat of our skin, or the ambilight in the room", or "something a little more entertaining", he added, pointing at the wine glass hooked up to the accelerometer.
Referring to the old school lemon copper trick, the Intel Labs staffer took a big red bottle, poured some wine into the glass, attached some copper and some zinc, and performed an experiment that was not dissimilar to what most of us probably did in high school with lemons and copper electrodes.
Doing this showed the accelerometer data being transferred from the processor and sent to a computer, with a flower rendering on the computer, demonstrating the concept of powering a computing operation with what was left over from last night's dinner.
According to Intel, the experiment showed that "low-power doesn't actually mean low performance".
"It's possible to start to imagine a world of incredibly low power but also with high performance, which will help unburden us, help us do things that are remarkable and gives the ability to power things like constant sensing, communication, and computing - all of which are necessary for our mobile future," Bell noted.
Yahoo chief executive and generally smart person Marissa Mayer has made a rare slip-up, publicly admitting she doesn't have a passcode on her smartphone due to being too busy.
Mayer made the revelation during an interview at the TechCrunch Dispute conference, gleefully admitting her security no-no when asked for her thoughts on the new Apple iPhone 5S fingerprint scanner.
"It's funny because you mocked me once at TechCrunch, maybe it was at LeWeb, because Mike was making fun of me because I don't have a passcode on my phone," she said.
"And Mike was like 'Are you crazy?', and I was like 'Look, I just can't do this passcode thing, like 15 times a day,' and then when I saw the fingerprint thing I thought now I don't have to. I was excited about that and think building some of these smart sensors into the phone is really exciting."
Following the admission the security community is up in arms, with many bemoaning the ex-Google vice president's apparent ignorance about even the most basic smartphone security. Independent security expert Graham Cluley went so far as to call the Yahoo chief a "twerp".
"Colour me unimpressed. There's really not any excuse for having even the weakest four-digit passcode on your iPhone (longer, more complex passwords are better and surprisingly easy to remember), and yet lots of people have none in place," he wrote.
"What's alarming is that Mayer is the CEO of a major internet company, who have a responsibility for protecting the privacy of hundreds of millions of net users. What kind of example is she setting by not having any form of login security on her smartphone? What a twerp."
However, the accusation may be slightly over the top. As Tim Cook noted during the iPhone launch event on Tuesday, many iPhone users follow Mayer's example in not bothering to turn on the passcode, hence Apple adding the fingerprint scanner.
F-Secure's security advisor Sean Sullivan also took a more lenient approach to Mayer's admission. "It seems to me that the 'blame the user' tech crowd is a bit too eager to pile on the abuse for her habits. Perhaps they just don't want to admit their advice is a failure, which doesn't really meet everybody's real-world needs," he said.
"Context matters. Regular people are careless with their phones, so regular people should really consider using a password. Internet company CEOs who live in the penthouse of the Four Seasons aren't regular folks, so the same advice just doesn't apply."
We think if polled, most chief executives around the world would give the exact same – albeit slightly less gleeful – answer. As such, while it's fair to bemoan Mayer's security mishap, we should avoid reverting to finger pointing and instead take it as a sign we need to do more to educate people about the importance of robust cyber security, as the UK government is doing with its ongoing Cyber Strategy.
You can watch the whole interview with Mayer in the YouTube video below.
By V3's Alastair Stevenson
Google has officially turned 15 marking a milestone moment in the search-turned-hardware and software giant's history.
While Google has celebrated the news, like all teenagers, Google's fifteenth year looks set to be a turbulent one. This is because despite concerns from privacy groups, having taken control of well over 90 percent of the search market, Google has been increasingly eager to create new ways to monetise its valuable customer data over the last half decade.
The story of Google and its quest for customer data, as all great start-ups do, started in a basement, where in September 1998 Larry Page and Sergey Brin launched the first iteration of Google Search. Taking on the then embedded leaders, like former heavyweight Yahoo, Google proved a hit and by July 2000 the search engine was listed as the world's most popular, responsible for one billion indexes.
Riding off the early success and clearly realising the value of its search data, Google decided to embark on a wave of service releases designed to expand and refine the amount of data it could collect. This started in 2001 when it expanded its search engine to offer image search to its users. However it was only in 2005 when Google really hit its stride, releasing its Earth, Maps, Talk and Video services and making what could be argued as its most important purchase to date - Android.
The purchase of Android was a clear bid by Google to increase the data it could collect, with smartphones and tablets running the OS offering the firm a means to collect previously unknown information, like customer location data. Aware of this, Google's focus has gradually shifted to devices as well as software, with the company releasing its first own-brand Nexus device, the Nexus One in 2010 and buying former mobile heavyweight Motorola in 2011.
Since then Google's device and software development business has boomed, with Android currently being listed as the most used mobile operating system in the world. However, the success has come with a cost, with numerous privacy groups getting increasingly angry about the amount of data Google's storing. This anger culminated over the summer when it was revealed Google was one of the main companies targeted by the NSA during its PRISM campaign - which saw the agency siphon vast amounts of customer data from Google.
Unperturbed by this, Google's unveiled its latest KitKat Android version and has pushed forward with the development of its Google Glass wearable computer - a device again surrounded by privacy concerns. For this reason, while Google's first 15 years may have been entirely focused on collecting customer data, its next 15 may well be about finding ways to secure it and win back concerned customers trust - a fact apparently not lost on Google, which according to recent reports has begun working to better encrypt data being stored and passing through its data centres.
By V3's Alastair Stevenson
Tech acquisitions are always dicey for any company, with the question of exactly how the two firm's will combine all but impossible to know.
In the past there have been some success stories, for example when Chinese tech company Lenovo bought IBM's Thinkpad business-focused brand. In this instance the rather than simply killing off the competition, Lenovo ran with the business, creating a slew of awesome new devices that reignited enterprise interest in the brand.
However, others have been less successful, like Google purchase of Motorola. Google originally shocked the tech world in 2011 when it announced plans to pay $12.5bn to buy Motorola Mobility. The move was a shock as Motorola was one of the few firms not to have partnered with Google to create an own-brand Nexus device.
The oddness of the deal split opinion, with some arguing the purchase was a purely defensive move on the part of Google, designed to protect it from further patent infringement claims from competitors like Apple. Others took a more positive attitude, hoping it would lead to a fresh wave of innovative handsets from Motorola, which had struggled since its heyday with the original feature phone Razr.
Sadly the first group turned out to be right, with Google showing little outward interest in the company, leaving Motorola to release good, but not great smartphones - with the notable exception of the Intel-powered Razr i which is still one of the best examples of what the chip-maker can offer the smartphone world. As proof of this Motorola continues to be one of the few big name tech companies not to have made a Nexus smartphone or tablet, with Google choosing Asus and LG for its latest run of own-brand devices.
The sad example set by Google and Motorola leaves me nervous that history will repeat itself with Microsoft and Nokia. During the speeches by soon-to-be-gone Microsoft chief Steve Ballmer and current Nokia head Stephen Elop neither really paid much attention to Nokia's top end technologies, like Pureview. Instead the emphasis was entirely on app development and using Nokia's Asha range as a stepping stone to get people onto Windows Phone.
While this emphasis makes perfect sense, after all every analyst under the sun has listed emerging markets as the next cash cow for mobile phone makers, it could be bad news for tech heads. In recent years Nokia's carved out a serious name for itself by creating top-end premier Lumia Windows Phones capable of competing with Samsung and Apple in terms of innovation.
This trend peaked earlier this year when Nokia unveiled its Lumia 1020 (pictured above). Featuring an amazing 41MP rear camera sensor, a host of custom Nokia apps and featuring the Finnish phone maker's iconic Lumia design, the phone truly showcased the best Windows Phone could offer.
While Microsoft and Nokia have promised the deal will "boost innovation" in the Windows Phone ecosystem, I'm not convinced it will be in the high-end space. Instead, I think it'll be solely aimed at creating affordable handsets designed to appeal to buyers on a budget or emerging markets. These fears are compounded by the departure of key players that have helped shape Nokia's top end offering, like designer Marko Ahtisaari.
Still, it is early days and key details about the deal remain unknown so my fears could well be misplaced and, as a business strategy, a focus on emerging markets would make perfect sense. Because of this, even if I am right, at worst the new strategy will simply leave myself and other early Windows Phone adopters sad not to see another top end Nokia Lumia.
By V3's Alastair Stevenson
02 Sep 2013
BT has closed its dial-up internet service for consumer customers, marking the end of a notable chapter in the UK's web history.
For years that weird and wonderful 'bzzt, prrr garrrrrrrrrrr e-donk, tahhhhhhhh, zzzzzzzzzzz' noise was the stuff of wonder and awe, as the worldwide information superhighway awaited. However, it is no more.
BT was keen to stress that none of the 1,000 or so customers that still enjoy this sound would not be left high and dry without a connection, with dial-up still clinging to life as part of its Plusnet subsidiary.
"BT can confirm it has closed its dial up service for consumer customers. This is a legacy product that is only used by a tiny number of customers, most of whom can easily transfer onto broadband for a cheaper price," it said in a statement. "No-one is being left without the option of an alternative service."
It is a notable milestone for the nation, though, as it underlines the fact that always-on connections are now the norm in homes across the land, as broadband becomes the fourth utility for households alongside gas, electricity and water.
What's more, with the rollout of superfast broadband services in counties across the UK beginning as contracts are signed with regularity, the idea of 'phoning the internet' and blocking up the telephone line for others in the household will lead to incredulous looks from future generations.
For those of you that miss that melodious sound of dial-up internet listen below (complete with some madcap humour) and recall those halcyon days when AOL CDs littered your desk and Windows 95 was a fresh and funky operating system.
22 Aug 2013
HP's financial results posted today do not paint a particularly pretty picture for the IT firm; the company has many fingers in lots of pies, but most of those pies are causing minor burns.
Personal computing was down 11 percent year-on-year, while printing also fell by four percent. Its enterprise division didn't just lose 9 percent of its revenue, but also lost its chief, as David Donatelli was shifted into another role within the company. The only ray of sunshine for HP was its software division, but even that only managed a one percent increase in revenue.
So where does HP go from here? Right now, analysts are unsure, with the company not giving clear pointers as to where its focus lies. What's worse, the places in which HP is losing revenue are all totally different aspects to its business, so it can't blame one particular part of the market.
The personal computing business is of course suffering much of the decline coming from the consumer side of things, according to Ovum analyst Tom Reuner, with consumers still unwilling to upgrade their laptops as often as they used to. The firm had previously toyed with the idea of selling off its personal computing arm, but Reuner isn't so sure that would go down well with investors. "It's such a large chunk you need something to replace it because top line is still important for investors." Indeed, personal computing is HP's biggest money spinner after its enterprise business, worth $7.7bn in the last quarter.
HP was also rumoured to be looking at making a play for the smartphone market but, again, with the market so utterly saturated by a combination of Samsung, Android and Apple, it would be a hard slog that probably wouldn't amount to much. "It's such a commoditised space, when you look at PCs and smartphones as a lever for other products and services but from a smartphone point of view it's more difficult to see where the turnaround could come from," explained Reuner.
So with enterprise still the biggest earner for the company but also appearing to be in significant decline, it only makes sense to oust the current head and look elsewhere. David Donatelli's replacement is Bill Veghte, previously the firm's chief operating officer. Veghte has strong experience in the competitive and burgeoning cloud business, and HP hopes that he will be able to better unite cloud and enterprise services.
It hasn't been all bad for HP, which secured a $3.5bn US Navy contract last month but, again, these huge deals don't always result in big profits. "But it is a promising promising sign that HP is able to be selected for major projects again," said Reuner
Meg Whitman has now been CEO for two years, a long period of stability for the firm, but she will need to find focus soon if HP is to continue on the road to recovery.
Written by V3's Michael Passingham, who prefers ketchup
The highly anticipated Steve Jobs biopic has had a somewhat disastrous week, failing to achieve the box office success it expected, taking just $6.7m after being played in 2,381 locations.
The figure was revealed by Cinema news website Box Office Mojo, which also gave the movie a middling B-rating for its "deification of Steve Jobs".
The sentiment was mirrored by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, who made a similar criticism, arguing that Ashton Kutcher was overly kind in his portrayal of Jobs, in a public review he posted on Gizmodo.
"I saw the movie tonight. I thought the acting throughout was good. I was attentive and entertained but not greatly enough to recommend the movie. One friend who is in the movie said he didn't want to watch fiction so he wasn't interested in seeing it. I suspect a lot of what was wrong with the film came from Ashton's own image of Jobs," he said.
"I felt bad for many people I know well who were portrayed wrongly in their interactions with Jobs and the company. The movie ends pretty much where the great Jobs finally found product success (the iPod) and changed so many of our lives. I'm grateful to Steve for his excellence in the i-era, and his contribution to my own life of enjoying great products, but this movie portrays him having had those skills in earlier times."
With this in mind, it's unsurprising that the film failed to meet its $8m to $9m opening week sales projections and did not match the performance of Jobs' creations such as the iPhone 5, which broke the five-million sales mark in its opening weekend. Still, considering how interesting Jobs was and what great insights the original 2011 biography book by Walter Isaacson gave into his life, this still feels like a missed opportunity for cinema gold.
Here's hoping we get a better look at Jobs the second time round when the Wozniak-approved biopic comes out later this year.
Written by V3's Alastair Stevenson
In fair Euston we set our scene, where news has emerged that author Mark Forsyth discovered that newly installed WiFi filters at the British Library have banned possibly the greatest work in the history of the English language: Shakespeare's Hamlet.
The filters were acting overzealously to some of the more bloody elements of Hamlet, which is about murder and revenge, after all. The British Library acknowledged the error, blaming the newly installed WiFi service, which it offers free, for being set too strictly.
"We have recently introduced a new WiFi service. It's early days in the implementation of this service and we are aware that the new filter has been blocking certain sites erroneously. We are actively working to resolve this issue," it said in a statement.
There's a nice element of irony in this, as it shows just how ridiculous filtering can become, especially as the government attempts to impose this upon internet service providers, claiming it will protect people from horrible content. The filters may protect them from a few dodgy sites, but they will also stop them reading the nation's greatest writer.
In honour of this story, and with our deepest apologies to The Bard, we humbly offer this sonnet, telling the tale in rhyme.
Sonnet 802.11
In the halls of the British Library
An institute of learning and knowledge
Filled with scholars and students from college
A man uses the WiFi, offered free
He searches 'Hamlet', the Bard's finest tale
Told with wit, charm and artistic license
But also filled with death and violence
So much so it is deemed beyond the pale
By the WiFi filters that have been set –
So nasty and evil sites can be blocked
And rightly too, so users are not shocked –
But they have ended up banning Hamlet!
Shakespeare would laugh at our filter terrors
Calling it a comedy of errors
By V3's Dan Worth, who hopes his creative writing teacher would be proud
About The Frontline
Insight into the latest tech news from V3.co.uk's team of reporters
Other sites we like at The Frontline