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PL
Badania kliniczne nad psychopatią prowadzone są już od ponad stu lat, jednak wciąż zagadnienie to stanowi dla badaczy zagadkę. Dzięki licznym odkryciom zebrano nowe informacje o tym niepokojącym zaburzeniu. Analizy z użyciem badań obrazowych mózgu dowiodły, że istnieje wyraźna różnica w budowie strukturalnej mózgu osób cierpiących na psychopatię i pozostałych ludzi. W porównaniu z innymi zaburzeniami psychicznymi, psychopatia rzadko jest obiektem systematycznych badań, mimo iż wywołuje znacznie więcej społecznego zamętu niż pozostałe choroby
EN
The article presents the results of research on the treatment of prisoners addicted to alcohol.The results of the therapy revealed, among other things, that in alcohol-dependentpsychopaths the control of expression and signs of the emotions change, while aggressionremains unchanged. Alcohol-addicted psychopaths who do not undergo drug therapy canbe characterized by lower quality of life and high levels of general aggression.
PL
Artykuł przedstawia wyniki badań nad terapią skazanych uzależnionych od alkoholuw warunkach izolacji więziennej. W wyniku terapii ujawniono m.in., że u uzależnionychod alkoholu psychopatów nastąpiły zmiany w zakresie kontroli ekspresji i objawów przeżywanychemocji, agresja natomiast pozostała na niezmienionym poziomie. Uzależnionychod alkoholu psychopatów nie poddawanych leczeniu odwykowemu charakteryzowałaniższa jakość życia i wysoki poziom agresji ogólnej.
PL
Żyjemy w kulturze narcystycznej, w dobie indywidualizmu, gdzie liczy się przede wszystkimsukces osobisty. Coraz mniejszą wagę przywiązuje się do postępowania zgodnie z zasadamimoralnymi, znaczenie ma rezultat działania, a nie sposób dążenia do celu. Jednostki narcystycznei psychopatyczne pragną i muszą wygrywać, ponieważ zwycięstwo decyduje o ichdobrym samopoczuciu. Artykuł jest próbą opisania narcystycznego zaburzenia osobowościw nawiązaniu do psychopatii. W pierwszym etapie badań wzięło udział 2228 osób, w czasiektórego wyłoniono i przebadano 194 osoby o podwyższonym poziomie narcyzmu. Zastosowanonarzędzia badawcze, które mierzyły poziom przeżywanego lęku, makiawelizmu,psychopatii, kłamstwa, określały stosowane style obronne czy uczucia związane ze wstydem,złością. Wyniki pokazały, że zgodnie z koncepcją Otto Kernberga psychopatia może byćtraktowana jako agresywny typ narcyzmu o niskiej organizacji charakteru. Jednostki narcystyczneniskopsychopatyczne odczuwają niski poziom lęku i są emocjonalnie zrównoważone.Impulsywne jednostki narcystyczne wysokopsychopatyczne są natomiast neurotycznei częściej stosują niedojrzałe mechanizmy obronne. Jednostki psychopatyczne odczuwajączęściej lęk i stosują niedojrzałe mechanizmy obronne, świadczące o ich niskim poziomieorganizacji charakteru. Osobowość psychopatyczna i narcystyczna, jako przejaw patologiispołecznej, ma wpływ na społeczeństwo, w którym współcześnie promuje się i wzmacniacechy uznane za psychopatyczne i narcystyczne.
EN
We are living in narcissistic culture, with individualistic attitudes towards each other, wherethe measure of success is your own prosperity. We pay less attention to moral values – what matters is the result. Narcissistic individuals know how to win, because it constitutes theirhappiness and well-being. The aim of this study was to examine how narcissistic personalitydisorder is connected to the concept of psychopathy. In the first stage, the sample consistedof 2228 participants, then the group of 194 participants with the highest level of narcissismemerged. The tools, measuring the level of fear, Machiavellianism, psychopathy, telling lies,using defensive styles or feelings connected with shame and anger, were used. It was noticed,according to O. Kernberg theory, that psychopathy could be treated as a type of aggressivenarcissism with low-level of character organization. Narcissistic individuals with low-levelof psychopathy feel low-level of fear and are recognized as emotionally stable. Impulsive,highly-psychopathic, narcissistic individuals are rather neurotic and use immature defensivestyles, which could be recognized as low organization of character. Narcissistic and psychopathicpersonalities, as a sign of social pathology have an impact on society, which nowadayspromote highly psychopathic and narcissistic values.
PL
Coraz więcej badań empirycznych i koncepcji teoretycznych wskazuje, że psychopatia jest zaburzeniem bardziej złożonym, niż to się do tej pory wydawało. Psychopatia może mieć negatywne i pozytywne oblicza. Badania wskazują, że dobrze jest być psychopatą funkcjonalnym, czyli niedziałającym antyspołecznie.
EN
More and more empirical research and theoretical concepts indicate that psychopathy is a more complex disorder than it seemed to date. Psychopathy can have negative and positive faces. Research indicates that it is good to be a functional psychopath, that is, not acting antisocial.
PL
Istnieje duża rozbieżność pomiędzy osobowością dyssocjalną w rozumieniu ICD–10, a psychopatią według klasycznego podejścia reprezentowanego przez Harveya Cleckleya czy Roberta Hare. Nowe kryteria zawarte w Sekcji III w DSM–5 dla antyspołecznego zaburzenia osobowości nie uwzględniają już zachowań przestępczych, tak jak DSM–IV–TR lub ICD–10. Skupiają się natomiast na cechach osobowości przypisywanych do tej pory psychopatii, takich jak nasilony egocentryzm, niska empatia, antagonizm czy rozhamowanie, łącząc kategorialne i dymensjonalne podejście do zaburzenia. Celem prezentowanych badań była weryfikacja modelu psychopatii ujmowanej z perspektywy dymensjonalnej. Psychopatia potraktowana została jako cecha latentna, przewidywana w niniejszym modelu teoretycznym przez cztery zmienne: empatię, źródła samooceny, makiawelizm oraz poszukiwanie doznań. Badanie przeprowadzone zostało na grupie mężczyzn. W zastosowanym modelowaniu równań strukturalnych uzyskano wysokie wskaźniki dopasowania modelu do danych empirycznych.
EN
Presented study was conducted on 118 people – 48 men and 70 women, aged between 18 and 65 (M = 24.70; SD = 10.90). The recruitment of the subjects was done online. Snowball method of selection was used. The main goal of the study was to explore potential predictors of social support – the Dark Triad, a construct that consists of three features considered as undesirable: psychopathy, Machiavellianism and narcissism, as well as a conversational style of indirectness, a tendency to both generate statements in which content is hidden, and to look for concealed messages in the statements of others. In addition, it was checked if there was an interaction between the explanatory variables. The discussed results partly confirm two hypotheses about the relationship of social support with the Dark Triad and conversational indirectness. It turned out that statistical analyzes partly confirmed two of the expected conclusions. Relations between Machiavellianism and psychopathy and social support, as well as between the subscale of conversational indirectness (generation) and social support proved to be significant. The expected interaction between the independent variables did not occur.
PL
W przedstawionym badaniu wzięło udział 118 osób – 48 mężczyzn i 70 kobiet, w wieku między 18. a 65. rokiem życia (M = 24,70; SD = 10,90). Rekrutacji osób badanych dokonano za pomocą metody kuli śnieżnej drogą internetową. Głównym celem badania była eksploracja potencjalnych predyktorów wsparcia społecznego – ciemnej triady, czyli konstruktu, na który składają się trzy cechy uznawane za niepożądane: psychopatia, makiawelizm i narcyzm, a także stylu konwersacyjnej niebezpośredniości, czyli skłonności zarówno do generowania wypowiedzi, w których ukryte są jakieś treści, jak i do doszukiwania się niejawnych komunikatów w wypowiedziach innych. Dodatkowo sprawdzono, czy między zmiennymi wyjaśniającymi zachodzi interakcja. Poddane dyskusji wyniki częściowo potwierdzają dwie hipotezy mówiące o związku między ciemną triadą i konwersacyjną niebezpośredniością a wsparciem społecznym. Okazało się, że analizy statystyczne częściowo potwierdziły dwa z przewidywanych wniosków. Istotne okazały się związki między makiawelizmem i psychopatią a wsparciem społecznym oraz między podskalą konwersacyjnej niebezpośredniości (generowaniem) a wsparciem społecznym. Nie udało się potwierdzić przewidywanej interakcji między zmiennymi niezależnymi.
EN
In the paper a thesis that psychopathy can be understood as a stable evolutionary strategy has been presented. We believe that this view may generate implications for criminal law, especially in the sphere of criminal responsibility. We propose a thesis that traditional understanding of legal insanity is not an adequate tool to assess the criminal actions of psychopaths. Moreover, the application of security measures may be de lege lata impossible. However, natural-born psychopaths can be isolated according to the provisions of the statue on proceedings against persons with mental disorders.
PL
W artykule zostały zaprezentowane wyniki badań nauk ewolucyjnych; na ich gruncie psychopatia może być ujmowana jako stabilna strategia ewolucyjna. Takie rozumienie psychopatii prowadzi do kilku implikacji w sferze odpowiedzialności karnej psychopatów. W artykule wskazano na nieadekwatność kategorii niepoczytalności do oceny prawnej czynów psychopatów, de lege lata niemożliwość stosowania wobec psychopatów środków zabezpieczających, określonych w Kodeksie karnym, oraz generalną dopuszczalność izolacji psychopatów na podstawie ustawy o postępowaniu wobec osób z zaburzeniami psychicznymi.
EN
The objective of the paper is to posit that family care, educational systems, institutions, such as healthcare and law enforcement, when they fail to act in unison, may, in fact, contribute indirectly to a volatile school crisis, which in turn may evolve into disasters, such as school shootings and/or suicide. The 1999 Columbine High School massacre, compiled into a case study, has served as the empirical source for the study. Next to the poorly synchronised family and institutional efforts to correctly diagnose psychopathic traits in one perpetrator and depression in the other, and failure to recognise their acute emotional crisis, two other variables contributing to the Columbine High shooting have been proposed. It is hypothesised that bullying (largely undermined and underestimated) to which Harris and Klebold had been exposed for at least four years, during the milestone 12 to 17 life stage, and the dysfunctional relationship between them, might have been the other massacre driving agents. Several negative repercussions of the Columbine shooting, such as worldwide copycat school shootings, resulting from a cult status of the Columbine murderers as well as their massive presence on the Internet and in pop culture, have been enumerated. Follow-up and further research studies have been proposed, including some quantitative projects, on bullying and cyber bullying among adolescents. Recommendations for decision makers have been listed.
PL
Celem artykułu jest wskazanie, że brak współdziałania rodziców, lekarzy, systemu edukacyjnego oraz prawnego może przeważyć szalę okoliczności kryzysowych, przyczyniając się, pośrednio, do incydentów krańcowych, tj. „zabójstw szkolnych” i/lub samobójstw. Za podstawę empiryczną w artykule posłużyła analiza studium przypadku masakry z Columbine High School z 1999 r. Obok niedostatecznego współdziałania otoczenia, które nie rozpoznało poprawnie zaburzeń (psychopatia, depresja) i ewolucji kryzysu psychicznego u sprawców, hipotezy badawcze identyfikują jako zmienne korelacyjne tragedii: lekceważenie zjawiska bullyingu, doświadczanego przez Harrisa i Klebolda przez co najmniej cztery lata w krytycznym etapie życia, tj. między dwunastym a siedemnastym rokiem życia, oraz dysfunkcyjny charakter więzi między nimi. Wskazano na niepożądane skutki incydentu, w postaci zachowań naśladowniczych na świecie, m.in. z powodu gloryfikacji sprawców oraz wiralnego rozprzestrzenia się opisu incydentu w sieci i popkulturze. Sformułowano potencjalne kierunki pogłębionych badań, w tym badań o charakterze ilościowym, nad zjawiskiem bullyingu i cyberbullyingu wśród młodzieży, jak również rekomendacje dla wybranych decydentów.
EN
Both the anthropological school of Lombroso, established in the late half of the 19th century, and the sociological school established by Ferri and other criminologists ( Liszt, Prins, van Hammel, Tarde) met with a keen interest in Poland. However, the anthropological school was criticized, as it was the case in other countries too, both by the classical school of penal law, and from the sociological point of view. A critical analysis of the views of Lombroso and his successors was made by the leading representative of the classical school of penal law in Poland in those days Krzymuski who  postulated that recognition of the individual’s free will to be condition of his penal liability, Krzymuski opposed free will to be conception of a born criminal propagated by Lombroso. Lombroso’s theory was also criticized by  Krzywicki, a sociologist and anthropologist who considered the former’s  approach towards the conditions of crime to be too narrow, leaving out of account those resulting from the social and economic conditions. On the other  hand, Polish criminologists considered it to be Lombroso’s unquestionable merit that he had called attention to the necessity of studying the offender's personality, and in this way initiated the modern criminology. Opinions of various sociological schools were discussed in the Polish literature and accepted by the majority of authors starting from the close of the 19th century. In particular, the most accepted one was the opinion that offence is a result of both individual and social factors, and the aim of punishment meted out by the court should be not only to deter. the perpetrator from committing offences, but also to reeducate him. Due to the fact that in the 19th-centuiy judicial practice the sentence depended on the extent of damage caused by the offender, it was emphasized in the Polish literature that punishment should take into consideration also the offender's individual features, as it is only then that it can fulfil its tasks (Stebelski). With the accepted division of offenders into professional and causal, the fact was stressed that - if the offender reveals a tendency to relapse into crime- the measures the society applies towards him should be more drastic since the society has to defend itself against incorrigible criminals in an effective way. Instead, more lenient measures should be applied towards causal offenders, such measures  being sufficient for their reeducation. In the period between the two world wars, criminology in Poland became a separate branch and extended its range; the establishment of the Polish Criminological Society in 1921 and of the Department of Criminology at the Free Polish University in 1922, later (I932) transformed into the Criminological Institute, contributed to this situation. The Polish criminology of that period faced the task of studying and defining in detail the basic factors of crime: individual (endogenous) and social (exogenous). This was related to the necessity to learn about the sources of crime with the aim of its effective control by means of preparing a Penal Code and properly shaping the criminal policy (Wróblewski). When studying the individual factors of crime, particular attention was paid to the psychopathic personality. Criminal psychopaths were believed to suffer from a pathological moral defect resulting from their underdevelopment in the sphere of emotions. It was stated that psychopaths who committed an offence should not be recognized as mentally irresponsible (Nelken). Psychopathy cannot be treated psychiatrically; on the other hand, intensified resocialization of the offender is necessary here, conditions for this treatment created during his prison term. At the same time, an adequate segregation of prisoners should be applied based on the psychopathological criterion (Łuniewski). The science of the offender's personality was called criminal biology; it dealt with the physical and mental structure of the offender. Criminal biology was to make use of the general anthropological, psychological and psychiatric data as well as those gathered by means of other clinical methods. Aimed at  gathering comprehensive data concerning the whole of the offender’s mental and physical properties, criminal biology should not confine itself to a mere specification of his various traits: it should also study their origin, methodically examining the development of these properties in the milieu in which the offender’s personality was formed. Thus the criminal-biological research must be made from the psychological and medical as well as sociological points of view. Particular importance was attached to detailed environmental research in the study of juvenile delinquents (Batawia). In the early Thirties, the Ministry of Justice initiated criminological- biological research in prisons. The research was carried out by special commissions with the use of a specially prepared comprehensive questionnaire . The greatest part was played by psychiatric and psychological examination. The  criminal-biological research in prisons was interrupted by the outbreak of the war. In connection with the criminogenic role of alcoholism, criminologists spoke for a considerable reduction of production and sale of spirits. Moreover, an opinion was expressed that a commission of an offence in the state of a normal (the so-called physiological) intoxication should not result in the recognition of the offender as mentally irresponsible. Only pathological intoxication may be considered from the point of view of irrespossibility. The offender should not avail himself of his intoxication as a mitigating circumstance (Nelken). The scientists opposed the introduction of compulsory sterilization which was to be applied toward persons whose children could inherit serious  pathological traits from them. The opposition had both scientific and humanistic grounds (Łuniewski, Nelken). Compulsory sterilization was not introduced. The main trend of the Polish criminology in the period between the wars corresponded with the sociological school which took into account the relationship between the endogenous (biological) and the exogenous (social) factors in the origins of crime. A vast majority of Polish criminologists opposed the conception of a “born criminal” put forward by Lombroso. Some of the Polish scholars of the period between the wars who used the term “criminal anthropology” (e.g. Rabinowicz), emphasized the evolution of this science which differed from the Lombroso’s doctrine, and postulated the social milieu as a factor be largely taken into consideration in the studies on the causes of crime. In the Polish criminology of those days, the stress was laid principally on criminal biology due to the fact that the internal factor is usually less  conspicuous and more difficult to prove than the external one in the etiology of crime. It was emphasized that not all of persons who  found themselves in unfavourable social conditions turned offenders (Neymark, Lemkin); therefore, the biological (somato psychological) factor determines the individual’s moral resistance to the unfavourable external conditions. On the other hand, also the social factor, in addition to the biological one, was included in the causes of crime, due to the considerable impact of living conditions on the human mind. The opinion was that - though the etiology of an offence is usually determined by a combination of the external and internal factors - in each case one should attempt to find out which of these factors prevailed in the origin of a given act; this should also be taken into account in the criminological prognosis. In general, the chance for correction is smaller in the case of an offender of the endogenous type who requires a more thorough and longer resocialization as compared with one of the exogenous type; this should be taken into account by the court when meting out punishment (Rabinowicz, Lemkin). The Polish  Penal Code of 1932 (in force till 1969) was an expression of the compromise between the classical school of penal law and the sociological school. In the code, many legal structures included in the General Part were formulated in accordance with the achievements of the science of penal law in its classical form; this concerns particularly the definition or the essence of crime and the principles of liability including that of subjectivism as responsibility for a culpable act. A compromising character was given in the code to meting out punishment which was conditioned not only  by the weight of the offence according to the classical principle of retribution and deterrence, but also by the offender's personality and the life he had led hitherto according to the instructions of the sociological school (Art. 54). The discussed code did not adopt from the Italian positivism the so-called ante-criminal prevention, i.e.. the application of sanctions towards an individual who has not committed any prohibited act yet. Also indeterminate sentences were not adopted in the Code in relation to penalties and not protective measures, as this would be contradictory to the principle of individualization of punishment. Under the influence of the sociological school the Code contained of a possibility of suspension of ęxceution of the penalty, and of its extraordinary rnitigation, as well as the release from prison before the expiration of term (separately regulated by the law of 1927-) and a possibility to mete out a more severe penalty in the case of recidivists. In addition to the medical security measures, which consisted in the commitment of the offender to a mental hospital and which the court could apply towards the persons guilty of acts committed in the state of mental irresponsibility or decreased responsibility, the code introduced - basing on the postulates of the sociological school-isolating security measures applied towards the offenders whose acts were connected with reluctance to work, and towards recidivists and professional as well as habitual criminals if their staying at liberty endangered the legal order. The isolating security measures were applied together with the penalty (not instead of it), the necessity of their application connected with the ‘’ state of danger", i.e. the perpetrator's probability of commission of further offences; in the criminological literature, subjective and state of objective criteria of the danger were distinguished (Strasman). According to Art. 84 of the  Penal Code, offenders of this type were  committed to a special institution  for at least 5 years, and the court decided after the termination of each such period whether it was necessary to prolong the commitment for the next five years. In the Penal Code of 1932, also the measures applied towards juvenile delinquents were divided into educational measures on the one hand, and commitment to a corrective institution on the other hand, depending  on the juvenile's age and of his possible discernment or lack there of when committing the forbiden act.
EN
The present contribution discusses the results of 4200 forensic-psychiatric  reports given, in the years 1953 to 1957, by twenty-one mental hospitals and the Department of Forensic Psychiatry of the Psychoneurological Institute, where copies of such reports, given by all the major mental hospitals in Poland, are collected. The present contribution does not take into consideration 300 reports in which no symptoms of a disease have been found with the subjects investigated, nor yet any mentally abnormal states, as well as 460 reports concerning reactive psychoses and 80 cases of simulation which arose only after the arrest of the investigated. (Cases of reactive psychoses and simulation will be dealt with separately, because of the altogether peculiar problems involved). Even though the leaving out of the account of the psychiatric examinations carried out in the Public Prosecutors’ Offices and the Courts of Law does not allow us to draw conclusions with regard to all those offenders suffering from mental disorders who have been submitted to examination, nevertheless, the large number of hospital reports available would seem to constitute valuable psychopathological and criminological material. 1. In investigating the cases sent by the Public Prosecutors’ Offices and the Courts to mental hospitals for psychiatric observation, we find, on the basis of available material, that the percentage of psychoses – setting aside reactive psychoses – is small, as it does not exceed 22 per cent. Three items: psychopathy, mental deficiency (most frequently a light feeble-mindedness or moronity) and alcoholism jointly account for a total of 50.8 per cent of the cases, and if, over and above that, we take into consideration post-traumatic mental disorders, epilepsy, post-encephalitic disorders and such like cases, it will appear that as many as over three-fourths of the reports given concern non-psychotic  states. Psychopathy accounts for 27.4 per cent of the cases, alcoholism and mental deficiency for 15.8 per cent each, post-traumatic disorders for 5.9 per cent, epilepsy for 4.7 per cent, and post-encephalitic disorders for 1.5 per cent. In the material under investigation cases of psychopathy amount, in reality, to more than 27.4 per cent, since cases of reactive psychoses and simulation, in which psychopaths figure extremely often, have been left out of the account. Similarly, there are probably more post-encephalitic states, which, having failed to be properly diagnosed, figure in cases which come under other heads, because of the lack of reliable interviews and the negative result of the neurological examination (in particular, in the mental deficiency and psychopathy groups). Cases of alcoholism, too, are less numerously represented in the material under investigation than would seem to result from the diagnoses contained in the reports. There can subsist no doubt that, apart from cases where the diagnosis reads ,,chronic (or else habitual) alcoholism", we also meet with alcoholism with a great many of such of the investigated with whom other pathological states have been diagnosed, and where alcoholism merely constitutes an additional factor, as a complication of other mental disorders. Altogether, the percentage of alcohol addicts amounts to at least 28. Among psychoses, schizophrenia is the one most numerously represented (510 cases). Only 29 delinquents suffered from manic-depressive psychosis, 62 from general paralysis, 30 – from involutional psychosis, 28 - from senile dementia. There were 19 cases of delusional psychosis, and 14 cases of paranoia. The number of cases with cerebral arteriosclerosis was 49, and that of cases of cerebral syphilis - only 20. In 44 cases it was a matter of twilight states with non-epileptics; here belong 30 cases of pathological drunkenness, 7 cases of pathological affect, 3 cases of ,,short-circuiting" (the so-called „Kurzschlusshandlungen” in German), and 4 cases of twilight states with an obscure etiology. 87.1 per cent of the reports concern men, 12.9 per cent - women. For every 100 men investigated there were only 14.9 women, while in the 1955 judicial statistics there were as many as 30 convicted women to every 100 convicted men. Cases of psychopathy, mental deficiency and schizophrenia constitute 61.3 per cent of the total of reports concerning women, while with men the above three items only amounted to 63.8 per cent after cases of alcoholism were added to them. Women are relatively most numerously represented in involutional disorders and manic-depressive psychosis. 2. When we examine the data concerning delinquency, it is obvious that it is the perpetrators of manslaughter, sexual offences and arson that are particularly numerously represented in the judicial psychiatric material. The most common offences against property, which constitute 33 per cent of the total number of offences in the material under investigation, reach the highest percentages in those cases which are not psychoses. On the other hand, among the offences perpetrated by persons suffering from psychoses there are relatively more offences against life and health, and, in particular, of manslaughter. Manslaughter amounts to 14 per cent of the offences committed by the persons investigated suffering from involutional psychosis, to 12.2 per cent of those committed by sufferers from schizophrenia, to 11.1 per cent of those committed by sufferers from paranoia, to 10 per cent, with sufferers from senile dementia, while with psychopaths the figure is only 5.7 and with oligophrenics - 4.7. Altogether, there were 288 cases of manslaughter or murder in the material investigated, and of these 77.4 per cent were divided between cases of psychopathy (67 cases), schizophrenia (67 cases), alcoholism (51 cases), and mental deficiency (28 cases). Among the 179 cases of sexual offences the bulk were cases of misconduct with persons under 15 years of age (93 cases), there were 43 cases of rape, 21 cases of incest, 12 cases of exhibitionist acts. Nearly 70 per cent of the sexual offences have been committed by psychopaths (55), oligophrenics (41) and alcohol addicts (28). On the other hand, the relatively highest percentage of such offences is to be met with those suffering from senile dementia, cerebral arteriosclerosis, and with mental deficiency. As far as arson is concerned, which in the material under investigation amounted to 3.3 per cent of the total number of offences, percentages higher than average ones are to be met with in cases of involutional psychosis, senile dementia, schizophrenia and mental deficiency. Out of a total number of 146  cases of arson, 53.4 per cent were accounted for by schizophrenia (40) and mental deficiency (38). With psychopaths and alcoholics comprised by the material under investigation cases of arson are extremely rare. Examining the delinquency of 158 epileptics, we establish that both the percentage of manslaughter and the number of cases of arson are small. What is worth while noting beside that is the fact that only in 24 cases the offence was perpetrated in a twilight state. The data concerning the delinquency of 510 schizophrenics bear witness to the fact that it was only a mere 8 per cent of the investigated that committed the offence during the first year of their illness, while the majority of cases the latter has been going on for above three years. When we analyze the 67 cases of manslaughter we find that it was only in two cases that the manslaughter was committed in the initial stage of the disease and constituted, as it were, the first visible sign of the schizophrenic process. In delusional psychoses cases of manslaughter were frequent, differently from cases of paranoia. In the few (29) cases of manic-depressive psychosis only one offence was committed in the depressive phase, white all the others were committed in the maniac phase or else in the hypomanic state. Deserving our attention is the lack of any more serious offences against life and health in this group. In the 30 cases of involutional psychosis more than one half of the offences consisted of those against life and health. Among the offences committed by the 49 persons with symptoms of cerebral arteriosclerosis, one-third consisted of offences of a serious character, while with the 25 patients suffering from senile dementia as many as one-half of the offences belonged to the category of serious offences. The delinquency of the 62 sufferers from general paralysis is almost exclusively reduced to offences of small importance of similar character as were the offences committed by the 20 sufferers from cerebral syphilis. In the 44 cases of twilight states (pathological drunkenness, pathological affect, and others) still 50 per cent of the offences consist of offences against life and health; 18 people fell victim to manslaughter. 3. The Polish Criminal Code, in force since 1932, contains provisions concerning, both in cases with mentally abnormal states, a state of irresponsibility and of diminished responsibility. A state of irresponsibility occurs when, at the time of committing the offence, the accused did not understand the significance of the deed he was perpetrating, or else was unable to direct his conduct because of psychosis, mental deficiency or other psychical disorders. A diminished responsibility occurs when, because of one of the reasons mentioned above, the ability of the accused to grasp the significance of the offence committed by him, and to direct his conduct was considerably limited. With regard to such and offender the Court may apply an extraordinarily mitigated penalty, while with regard to an offender who has been declared irresponsible, of course, no penalty at all may be applied. The offenders declared irresponsible are, by virtue of the Court's decision, transferred to a general mental hospital, if their staying at large could be dangerous for the legal order. They cannot be released from the hospital by the Court earlier than after the lapse of one year. An offender with regard to whom a diminished responsibility has been decreed and who is dangerous to the legal order may also be placed in a mental hospital (he, too, can be released from there by the Court not earlier than after the lapse of one year at the least). If the Court has sentenced such an offender to serve a term of imprisonment, the question of whether or not the penalty decreed is to be served is decided by the Court after the offender's release from the mental hospital. In cases of psychosis, forensic psychiatrists always decree irresponsibility. In cases of mental deficiency their decree depends on the degree of such deficiency, while in the cases, most frequent in judicial practice, of mild subnormality (morons, debils) –  also on the, category of the offence which has been committed. Psychopaths are, in principle, considered to be fully responsible. Altogether, out of a total of 3900 delinquents examined 24.7 per cent of the cases have been pronounced by experts to be irresponsible, 23.1 per cent of the cases – to have a diminished responsibility, while 50.7 per cent of the offenders have been declared to be fully responsible. 4. As far as experts' opinions are concerned with regard to the application of internment in mental hospitals of offenders pronounced to be dangerous for the legal order, as well as irresponsible, out of a total number of 946 offenders declared irresponsible, a mere 34 per cent have been pronounced to be dangerous. Moreover, in 31 per cent of the cases, experts have pronounced for the necessity of hospital treatment under ordinary circumstances. Finally, 35 per cent of the offenders pronounced to be irresponsible have been described as not standing in need of any hospital treatment. A diminished responsibility has been decreed by the experts in a total of 855 cases, but only 6.4 per cent of the latter number have been pronounced to be dangerous to the legal order and to stand in need of internment in a mental hospital. Apart from the above, only in 10 per cent of the cases, experts have pronounced in favor of the need for hospital treatment. In the remaining 83.5 per cent of the cases the experts have confined themselves to stating that the responsibility of the offenders in question was diminished which, in result, comes merely to a possibility of an extraordinary mitigation of the penalty being decreed by the law-court. It is evident from the analysis of the judicial sentences which we have just carried out that experts a[ too unfrequently declare in favor of the need of applying security measures. The result is an irrational punitive policy with regard to such offenders who ought to be approached first and foremost, from a psychiatric point of view. The Criminal Code provisions concerning security measures are obsolete and demand essential alterations, which can only be done by means of codification. Quite independently of the need for extending the network of ordinary mental hospitals, there also exists a necessity of creating a special type of establishments, of a psychiatric-cum-penitentiary character, for a certain category of offenders who exhibit abnormal mental peculiarities and tendencies to recidivism. Equally needed is the establishing of treatment homes for offenders who are alcohol addicts. As it ensues clearly from experiments made in various countries, the application of ordinary penalties to delinquents who require a special treatment from a psychiatric point of view is altogether inefficacious.
EN
              The notion of psychopathy as deficiency of emotions, will, and drives was shaped in the late  19th and early 20th century (Koch, Birnbaum, Kraepelin, Schneider). In Poland between the two world wars, studies of psychopathy were carried out by outstanding psychiatrists (Radziwiłłowicz, Wachholz, Nelken, Łuniewski) whose works initiated the development of criminal psychopathology in our country. Their opinions were as follows: the basic trait of a psychopathic character is a pathological moral defect the intensity of which rnay differ in different individuals. Against that background, many other disorders exist, most frequent being a pathological increase of affectivity. The pathological moral defect results from the psychopaths deficient emotions. The pathological mental changes are quantitative and not qualitative which is why psychopathy cannot be considered a mental illness. The opinion prevailed that psychopathy has constitutional grounds as opposed to pathological changes of character caused by other factors (e. g. brain lesions). It was also believed, that external factors, the social environment, alcohol and drugs above all, contribute to the shaping of a psychopathic character.                Psychopathy was considered a highly crime-generating factor and the ground of many cases of alcoholism and drug addiction. As a constitutional and permanent condition psychopathy is not susceptible to psychiatric treatment; the researchers believed that imprisonment creates the proper conditions of resocialization of psychopathic offenders. The type of prison for psychopaths who commit offences was discussed, the question being whether they should be kept in normal prisons with other prisoners, or in special penal institutions. In the 1930's, a criminal-biological examination of prisoners starred, initiated by the Ministry of Justice, with psychiatric and psychological examination playing the leading part. The aim was mainly to work out a system of segregation of  prisoners who were to be put in appropriate prisons with different rules. The outbreak of World War II stopped the project.                The postwar Polish publications usually point to the crime-generating faculties of psychopathy which result from its being a deficiency of emotions, will, and drives and an individual's permanent condition although it may be lessened or aggravated in various stages of life according to physiological processes and external conditions. As manifested by studies carried out in Poland, mainly the psychiatric ones, there is a considerable number of psychopaths among the perpetrators of various types of offences. Among those guilty of murder, 29.4 per cent of psychopaths were found (Fleszar-Szumigajowa it al.), among thieves of public property-26.19 and of private properly - 28.12 per cent (Malik). There were 48 per cent of psychopaths among recidivists ( Ostrihanska). The above proportions do not include offenders with psychopathological traits similar to psychopathy but resulting from a disease or lesion of brain (the so-called characteropaths).                Among the different types of psychopaths, particular attention should be drawn to unqualified psychopaths (emotionless according to Schneider’s classification) and to schizoidal psychopaths. Representatives of both these types can be found among serious criminals, murderes in particular, and among recidivists. As follows from psychiatric examination of murderers, sex murderers ale usually unqualified or schizoidal psychopaths (Szymusik). Despite their common characteristic, i. e. the deficient emotions, there two typ.. of psychopaths differ from each other to some extent which is important from the point of view of criminal psychopathology. An unqualified psychopath is usually characterized by a more marked deficiency of emotions and behaviour his environment frequently perceives as contradictory to the rules of social life. Instead, the emotional deficiency of a schizoidal psychopath is accompanied by his tendency to conceal his real emotions and intentions from the environment and to ambivalence, making this type of psychopath more difficult to diagnose as dangerous to others. The above findings have been obtained from specially selected groups  i. e. persons suspected of offences or convicted, who were subjected to psychiatric examination because of their unusual behaviour as a rule.                As regards the problem of criminal responsibility of psychopaths, an opinion prevails that such persons are accountable in principle. This follows from the fact that psychopathy is not a mental disease, a psychopath retaining his ability to understand the nature of his act as he is not mentally deficient and usually has a normal I.Q.A psychopaths is also able to control his conduct: as shown in practice by a number of cases, psychopaths. usually desist from the intended act if they find the conditions to be unpropitious; they also retain critical judgement of the separate elements of a given situation, thus to secure for themselves the necessary conditions and to be safe after the act. Thus in such psychopaths, intellect is able to control the deficient emotions and will to the extent that they discern the chances of a temporary gain. A psychopath may be found to have diminished accountability in particular cases only, and to be non-accountable -exceptionally. This takes  place if his ability to control his own conduct was largely limited or entirely supressed due to the type of psychopathy (e. g. in depressive or vehement psychopaths), the particular, circumstances of the act which increased the psychopathic reaction,  or the additional mental complications (e. g. mental deficiency found jointly with psychopathy).               Resocialization of psychopathic offenders proved a difficult problem in practice due to their abnormal personality and reaction to imprisonment. Psychopaths serve their terms in special prisons for persons in need of particular medical and educational measures. Among   their inmates who deviate from the mental norm, psychopaths constitute 40 per cent. They are resocialized through initiation into discipline, order and work, and through additional general or professional schooling if necessary.  They also undergo psychocorrective treatment individually or in groups with specialized prison staff; the treatment is aimed at arousing in them a critical attitude towards their own conduct. Having served their term, psychopathic recidivists are subjected to protective supervision of a court-appointed curator, the aim of which is their further resocialization and prevention or their relapse into crime. If a recidivist evades supervision on release, he is placed in a social adjustment centre by a court's decision. In the centre, psychopaths should receive a treatment conducive to their resacialization. Psychopaths receive postpenitentiary assistence, if necessary, which consists mainly in finding a job and lodgings (e. g. in a worker’s hostel) for them. Yet many psychopaths relapse into crime despite that assistance. To end with, the fact is stressed in the paper that small differences in the definitions of psychopathy given by the  separate authors and the sometimes found diagnostic differences- are not sufficient grounds for the term ,,psychopathv’’ to be replaced with other terms leading to considerable ambiguity. ,,Psychopathy’’ is a diagnostically established term and its replacement with ,, personality disorders’’ or ,,abnormal personality’’ only makes the problem obscure, blurring the difference between psychopathy and characteropathy, and between psychopathy and conditions such as neuropathic disposition and pathological character changes resulting from alcoholism or drug addiction. An explicit definition of the differences between these psychopathological conditions is most important for  judicial decisions and forensic psychiatry, for defining the chances and methods of treatment, and for criminological prognosis.
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