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Amnesia for criminal offences

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

Pamela J. Taylor  and
Michael D. Kopelman
Pamela J. Taylor*
Affiliation:
Forensic Section, Department of Forensic Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, London
Michael D. Kopelman
Affiliation:
Forensic Section, Department of Forensic Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, London
*
1Address for correspondence: Dr Pamela J. Taylor, Forensic Section, Department of Forensic Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AF.
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Synopsis

Nearly 10% of a sample of men charged with a variety of offences claimed amnesia for their offence. The amnesia occurred only among those who had committed violence and was most frequent following homicide. All the amnesics had a psychiatric disorder, four having a primary depressive illness and the remainder being almost equally divided between schizophrenia and alcohol abuse. None of the amnesias had any legal implications. The circumstances of the offences suggested a variety of mechanisms to account for the amnesia, including repression, dissociation and alcoholic black-outs. Psychological defence mechanisms were probably of some importance, even when alcohol was an important factor.

Type
Research Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 14 , Issue 3 , August 1984 , pp. 581 - 588
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1984

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