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1 J. Forensic Psychiatry & Psych. 1 (1990)

handle is hein.journals/jnlofncpy1 and id is 1 raw text is: FORENSIC PSYCHIATRY The scope of forensic psychiatry ROGER ORMROD It is a pleasure to have the opportunity of welcoming the arrival of the new Journal of Forensic Psychiatry. It will fill a real gap and will help to define and consolidate the sub-speciality, as well as stimulating research. The addition of the word 'forensic' to the name of any scientific discipline inevitably, to some extent, changes its philosophy. Its primary role or objective becomes the advancement of the cause of justice in a court-setting ('forum'), by making available to the court the skills, knowledge, and techniques developed by the discipline. This means that practitioners must know, understand, and respect some of the philosophical tenets of the judicial system within which they are operating, and its rules of evidence and procedure. This may entail considerable adaptation to the new situations without, of course, compromising their scientific integrity. There is, unfortunately, ample scope for misunderstanding and confusion. Some of the basic terminology is common to both scientific and legal disciplines but the words are used in different senses. Words like 'evidence', 'proof', and 'probability' are in constant use in both disciplines but convey significantly different meanings. These differences reflect the different function each discipline exists to fulfil. It is important that each side should understand the limitations within which the other has to work. For example, courts have to make definitive decisions of the 'yes' or 'no' type, i.e. 'guilty' or 'not guilty', within the comparatively short time-scale of a trial (negotiated in England and without the escape route of the 'not proven' verdict which is available in Scotland). Nor can the decision be deferred for further investigation or re-checking of the data. There is the further complication that in serious criminal trials the decision is made by a jury of twelve randomly selected men and women, directed by the judge but not led by him or her. This is, perhaps, an early and crude attempt to eliminate observer error! To cope with these difficulties and, as it were, to process the data into a form which makes decisions of this type possible, generations of judges have evolved

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