Concepts and Controversies in Modern Medicine: Psychiatry and Law How are They Related?

This 1970 film discusses the role of the psychiatrist in the courtroom and prison. Featuring Thomas S. Szasz, the author of The Myth of Mental Illness and The Manufacture of Madness.

Szasz argued throughout his career that mental illness is a metaphor for human problems in living, and that mental illnesses are not "illnesses" in the sense that physical illnesses are; and that except for a few identifiable brain diseases, there are "neither biological or chemical tests nor biopsy or necropsy findings for verifying DSM diagnoses.

The film also features Bernard L. Diamond, what is very interesting he was a so called expert witness for the defense in many well known trials, most notably the trail of Sirhan Sirhan, the man accused of the assassination
Of Robert Kennedy. In the 1980's Jonathon Marks who was representing Mark David Chapman for his alleged act of murder of John Lennon brought Dr. Diamond in to perform medical legal evaluations on Chapman.

Psychiatry in law has been used both as a means to justify dehumanizing the accused and as an excuse for irresponsible behavior. In many cases psychiatry can also be a tool to mark someone who is innocent and convince the jury of their guilt.