The Debate Between Psychiatry and the Law

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The reprinting by the Institute of Psychiatry, on its fiftieth anniversary, of Dr. Peter Scott's paper (1) describing Maudsley's work as a pioneer in criminology reminds us of the prominent part Maudsley played in the debate between psychiatrists and lawyers which has been in progress for nearly a century and a half, with, for much of that time, little satisfaction for either side. It is a classic example of the difficulties of inter-disciplinary communication. My only qualification to be the Maudsley Lecturer is that I happen to be doubly qualified in law and medicine, and, as Chairman of the Institute, a good deal closer to psychiatry than most lawyers. My qualities as an interpreter must therefore make good the intellectual deficiencies of which a glance at the list of my forty-seven distinguished predecessors makes me acutely conscious.

This publication has 2 references indexed in Scilit: