Zagadnienia psychopatii i resocjalizacji przestępców-psychopatów w dziejach polskiej myśli kryminologicznej
Authors: Jan Nelken  
Published: July 2024

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.