On the problem of psychodiagnosis in psychiatry and psychotherapy]

Owing to the changed concept of psychiatry and psychotherapy, greater demands are also being made on psychodiagnostics. The article deals with the prerequisites, possible significance and application of the clinical methods and psychological tests, describes the problems of standardization and quality testing and discusses indications and problems of the different groups of methods. The demands of the clinician addressed to test designers are dealt with, as well as the question of which group of methods should be used and by whom.     

Psychosocial maladjustment and criminal responsibility--results of a catamnestic study

The introduction in 1968 of the legal concept of Grave Abnormal into the penal code, Development of the Personality Amounting to a Disorder made possible criminal exculpation on the basis of psychosocial maldevelopment. Statistically established criteria for its application have hitherto been lacking. A corpus of 276 offenders on probation under this legal provision has now been compared statistically with a control group homogeneous in respect of the significant parameters. It has been possible to arrive at differentiated syndromes which are well characterised by the corresponding criteria in the penal code.     

Victimologic studies--a comparative study of perpetrator-victim relations in homicide crimes

Investigations into 404 homicide cases involving 422 perpetrators and 442 victims in the GDR are described as an introduction to a new subject, victimology , dealing with the importance of the relations between perpetrator and victim for the actual crime. Although certain uniform features are apparent, it is evident that relations between perpetrators and victims in the GDR differ considerably from those in other countries, especially in the case of countries with very high homicide rates.     

The contribution of forensic psychiatry in the determination of punishable guilt]

As part of the consultative discussions between members of the Supreme Court and workers at the Department of Forensic Psychiatry, G.D.R. Institute of Psychiatrists and Neurologists, problems are being dealt here with, which have been discussed by the present authors as early as in 1972. These are questions arising in connection with expert opinions on responsibility and guilt and concerning the offender's personality, the motives, the kind and extent of guilt, the possible exclusion of guilt, as well as urges of passion beyond the limits of paragraphs 15 and 16 in addition to exceptional objective and subjective circumstances.     

Maternal gatekeeping, coparenting quality, and fathering behavior in families with infants

The present study examined the role of maternal gatekeeping behavior in relation to fathers' relative involvement and competence in child care in 97 families with infant children. Parents' beliefs about fathers' roles were assessed prior to their infant's birth. Parents' perceptions of maternal gatekeeping behavior (encouragement and criticism) and coparenting relationship quality were assessed at 3.5 months postpartum. The authors assessed fathers' relative involvement and competence in child care using a combination of parent report and observational measures. Results suggest that even after accounting for parents' beliefs about the paternal role and the overall quality of the coparenting relationship, greater maternal encouragement was associated with higher parent-reported relative father involvement. Moreover, maternal encouragement mediated the association between coparenting quality and reported relative father involvement. With respect to fathers' observed behavior, fathers' beliefs and parents' perceptions of coparenting relationship quality were relevant only when mothers engaged in low levels of criticism and high levels of encouragement, respectively. These findings are consistent with the notion that mothers may shape father involvement through their roles as "gatekeepers."     

Abnormal psychosocial development and legal responsibility--results of psychopathometric studies

The introduction (1968) of the legal concept of Grave Abnormal Development of the Personality Amounting to a Disorder into the penal code, made possible criminal deculpation on the basis of psychosocial maldevelopment. On the basis of an intelligence- and personality-diagnostic test-battery (Psychopathometry), the findings obtained in the examination of a sample of culprits on probation under this legal provision, has been compared with a control group homogeneous in respect of the significant parameters. Psychopathometric methods can and should reasonably supplement expertises of this culprits with defective psychosocial development.     

Goodness-of-fit in family context: Infant temperament, marital quality, and early coparenting behavior

This study examined the contributions of infant temperament and marital relationship quality to the quality of the early coparenting relationship for couples parenting 3.5-month-old infants. Marital quality was assessed observationally during the third trimester of pregnancy. When infants were 3.5 months old, infant temperamental characteristics (fussiness and unadaptability) were rated by parents and observers and coparenting behavior was assessed observationally in play and child care contexts. Results indicated that associations between infant temperament and coparenting behavior depended on marital quality: couples with high marital quality showed more optimal coparenting behavior when faced with a challenging infant, whereas couples with low marital quality showed less optimal coparenting behavior when caring for a challenging infant.     

Phenomenology in the life work of Karl Leonhard as the climax of a classical view and a starting point of dialectic thought in psychiatry

The development of Karl Leonhards opinions, and particularly his schizophrenia theory, in the psychiatry of his time is presented in the form of a historical outline. Since the psychosis cannot be regarded as a self-contained phenomena even today, it is necessary to seek correlations, and, finally, causal relationships, with the results yielded by other science. This is shown by means of relationships established to results obtained in psychology, the physiopathology of the brain, genetics, sociology and in research into prognostication and the way in which people come to terms with their illnesses. The conclusion is drawn that Leonhards phenomenology represents an optimum starting point for psychiatry in future.