Forensic Aspects Of Dissociative Identity Disorder

This ground-breaking book examines the role of crime in the lives of people with Dissociative Identity Disorder, formerly known as Multiple Personality Disorder, a condition which appears to be caused by prolonged trauma in infancy and childhood. This trauma may be linked with crimes committed against them, crimes they have witnessed, and crimes they have committed under duress. This collection of essays by a range of distinguished international contributors explores the complex legal, ethical, moral, and clinical questions which face psychotherapists and other professionals working with people suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder. Contributors to this book are drawn from a wide range of professions including psychotherapy, psychoanalysis, counselling, psychology, medicine, law, police, and social work.

This account of multiple personality disorder (MPD) and related dissociative disorders presents the latest findings leading to a new model of MPD and a new therapeutic approach to its treatment. The book examines the large cluster of symptoms and dysfunctions associated with MPD, focusing on diagnosis, clinical features, and the relationship of MPD to other diagnoses. Data and clinical evidence are presented for a widely-accepted, but as yet unproven hypothesis that MPD arises as a dissociative strategy for coping with severe childhood trauma, usually involving physical or sexual abuse.

Dissociative identity disorder (DID) is a rare disease for what general practitioners have “no code.” It however has a heavy weight in forensic research. Experts are divided on whether DID warrants an acquittal for "not-guilty-by-reason-of-insanity" (NGRI) defense. Over the past century, DID has been raised to defend a variety of offenses, from a parking ticket to the first degree murder, or to manipulate with the civil suits for monetary relief. Applying traditional rules of criminal culpability or civil liability to these cases poses a significant challenge. The concepts of personhood and identity create a havoc in determining the insanity. Diagnostic exclusions are scarce, with exceptions of the explicit memory transfer to be the key to deny the dissociated identity, whereas the absence of implicit memory transfer helps to think of personality dissociation. Retrograde amnesia comes to be a central symptom and with its variations it helps to differentiate the alters of identity from the alters of personality. There is currently no consensus within the USA legal system as to the extent to which individuals with DID can or should be held responsible for their actions. Courts that are receptive to the DID diagnostic construct have used one of three approaches to assess criminal responsibility in such cases: "alter-in-control approach," "each-alter approach," and "host-approach." Amidst the above complexity, the legal system must also deal with potentially conflicting mental health testimony, especially given enduring controversies about the DID diagnosis. DID challenges the Model Penal Code hierarchy of mens rea (purpose, knowledge, recklessness, negligence), the concept of evidence, material facts, and estoppel of duress.From the Frye test, witness categories (educating, reporting, interpreting), types of evidence (bolstering, attacking, rehabilitating), malinger and credibility of testimony, to the outcomes of adjudications, this book presents a value-adding comprehensive guide on the court-visited criminal and civil cases when one of the parties claim for suffering a DID.Equipped with 153 references, it also provides with an exhaustive analysis of 21 adjudications, inclusive for their legal rules and limits, precedents, first impressions, overrides, dicta, certiorari, dispositions, verdicts, remedies, holdings and reasoning, pursuant to the Constitutional or statute enactments in the United States and District of Columbia.Presented cases are located via LexisNexis,™ BlueBook, and Bloomberg Law. All published cases are free for public access under the U.S. Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act (HIPAA), 14th Amendment Due Process Clause, and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

This book contains new evidence and more ideas for treatment and management of dissociative identity disorder (DID). It is written from the standpoint of an expert in the field for other professionals that deal with or are interested in DID. Chapters are divided into 4 parts. Part 1 acts as an introduction to understanding dissociative identity disorder, such its history, the different types of the disorder, and its portrayal in popular culture. The chapters in this part cover multiple personality disorder, theories, and epidemiology of the disease. Part 2 discusses the pathology and neuroscience of the disease. The comorbidities related to the disorder will be explained, such as PTSD, depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, and more. This part concludes with the potential causes of dissociative identity disorder, which ties into the previously mentioned comorbidities throughout this part. Supplementing the aforementioned topics, Part 3 discusses management of the disease. The chapters will cover modern psychiatry, diagnosis, and treatment options. Drug treatment and psychotherapy are some examples of the treatment options available. The authors share their experiences and perspectives of managing DID, including clinical trials and recovery. Finally, Part 4 discusses the sociology of DID, such as potential drug abuse, social media presence, and the difficulties that psychiatrists face in diagnosing the disease. This part provides advice for clinicians and healthcare providers by sharing different perspectives from psychiatrists that encounter the disease. Written by experts in the field, Dissociative Identity Disorder serves as a valuable resource for psychiatrists and clinicians seeking to understand, treat, and manage the disease.

This Revised Edition of Attachment, Trauma and Multiplicity investigates the subject of Dissociative Identity Disorder. With brand new chapters on police work and attachment theory it has been fully updated to include new research and the latest understanding of patterns of attachment theory that lead to dissociation. With contributions from psychotherapists, psychiatrists, psychoanalysts and service users this book covers the background history and a description of the condition along with the issues of diagnoses and treatment. It also looks at: the phenomenon of DID the conflicting models of the human mind that have been found to try and understand DID the political conflict over the subject including problems for the police clinical accounts and personal writing of people with DID. Attachment, Trauma and Multiplicity, Second Edition will prove essential reading for therapists and mental health workers as well as being a valuable resource for graduates and researchers.

This Revised Edition of Attachment, Trauma and Multiplicity investigates the subject of Dissociative Identity Disorder. With brand new chapters on police work and attachment theory it has been fully updated to include new research and the latest understanding of patterns of attachment theory that lead to dissociation. With contributions from psychotherapists, psychiatrists, psychoanalysts and service users this book covers the background history and a description of the condition along with the issues of diagnoses and treatment. It also looks at: the phenomenon of DID the conflicting models of the human mind that have been found to try and understand DID the political conflict over the subject including problems for the police clinical accounts and personal writing of people with DID. Attachment, Trauma and Multiplicity, Second Edition will prove essential reading for therapists and mental health workers as well as being a valuable resource for graduates and researchers.

Winner of ISSTD's 2009 Pierre Janet Writing Award for the best publication on dissociation in 2009! Dissociation and the Dissociative Disorders is a book that has no real predecessor in the dissociative disorders field. It reports the most recent scientific findings and conceptualizations about dissociation; defines and establishes the boundaries of current knowledge in the dissociative disorders field; identifies and carefully articulates the field’s current points of confusion, gaps in knowledge, and conjectures; clarifies the different aspects and implications of dissociation; and sets forth a research agenda for the next decade. In many respects, Dissociation and the Dissociative Disorders both defines and redefines the field.

This personal yet scholarly journey into the confusing and clandestine world of ritual abuse survivors sheds light on their catastrophic experiences and their efforts to heal afterward. Revised, updated, and expanded, this third edition of a classic study is one of the most authoritative and evenhanded volumes to tackle its hotly debated subject matter. Incorporating the authors' firsthand observations, the book provides historical, anthropological, and psychological context for contemporary reports of both ritual abuse and ritual crime. In addition to sharing patient vignettes and a history of cult and ritual abuse in society, the authors explore fascinating topics related to these practices, among them what triggers personality shifts for victims even many years after the abuse has stopped. Importantly, the book shows how ritual abuse affects society as a whole, influencing civil and criminal law, politics, legislation, social movements, social welfare, and psychological theory. It provides unique insights into the scientific study, forensic investigation, and implementation of social services for survivors of cult and ritual abuse, discusses new research and treatment strategies, and establishes the foundation for a psychological diagnosis to be called Cult and Ritual Trauma Disorder.

This book explores the evolution of morality and the roles of reason and emotion in the making of moral judgments. It describes scientific research on volitional behaviour, moral decision-making, and criminality, discussing what this might mean for our practices of blame and punishment, and applying this knowledge to clinical conditions.