Reaching the person behind the fact: understanding of the meaning in imputability assessment method

Abstract

This article aims at giving some hints for a critical reflection upon a very important living matter: limits and potentiality in the use of neuro-imaging for a psychiatric assessment concerning the imputability of the offender. To this end, we take into account different aspects of forensic psychiatric methodology, because a close examination of its various phases allows us to understand whether and to what extent a certain research method may be part of it or not.

As a matter of fact, because they aim at illustrating human cerebral functions and neuronal elements in human personality and actions, neurosciences do not only involve biological determinants of the subject’s behaviour and relation with the world, with human beings and with the law itself: they also pose some questions concerning fundamental anthropological normative-prescriptive matters, such as free will and ethical responsibility. In this perspective, however, there’s also an evident risk of giving simplistic and deterministic solutions to forensic medical problems such as appraisal of individual imputability, as a direct consequence not only of an anthropological reification, but also of an epistemological reductionism and a serious methodological mistake. Therefore, we underline the absolute need for a constant and meticulous application of those evaluation criteria characterizing the scientificity of the forensic psychiatric method, which might sometimes include only those notions which are potentially useful to clarify the complexity of a case.