Expertise psychiatrique au pénal : apports des canevas structurés d’expertise

ObjectivesIn Belgium, following the new law on the internment of persons (2014), a Royal Decree (2018) specifies that experts must draw up their conclusions according to a standard model: a framework of psychiatric expertise. This major novelty in the Belgian judicial landscape aims to structure the expert approach. At the dawn of the implementation of this framework, we want to provide a “screening” of the content of 50 expertise produced before this legal obligation. Secondly, we asked the opinion of ten Belgian experts on the implementation of this framework.MethodFor the first study, we analyzed 50 expertise of forensic patients from the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital “Les Marronniers” in Tournai (Belgium). First, we consulted the expertise of the last 50 patients arriving at the Hospital and who consented to the research. We created a table listing the domains investigated by two existing tools: 12-P (Bénézech, 2012) and the framework of psychiatric expertise (Moniteur Belge, 2018). Secondly, in order to gather the Belgian expert's opinions, we interviewed five psychiatrists and five psychologists working in the forensic sector and performing expertise.ResultsThe results indicate that while certain domains, which are mandatory in the new framework, were already reported in the field of expertise (e.g. anamnesis and major mental disorders), other areas, such as risk assessment, were less systematically considered. This is somewhat surprising since the risk assessment is an obligation in the new framework of expertise. The results also highlight that the joint work of psychiatrist and psychologist during the expertise facilitates a more structured evaluation. The results of the interviews highlight that the obligation to use a standard psychiatric framework is an important step in improving the quality of the expertise in order to provide specialized information to the judge.ConclusionsThe framework of psychiatric expertise aims, through an systematic list, to objectify the specific areas to consider when requesting expertise. The experts unanimously outlined the interest of this framework in the development of a structured approach of expertise. They consider it as a “checklist” concerning the domains included in the framework.     

The perpetual search for parsimony: Enhancing the epistemological and practical utility of qualitative research findings

Background

While it appears that the term parsimony has been used in the context of qualitative research and qualitative research methodology, there is a distinct absence of writing that actually explores, seeks to define, understand, critique, apply and/or evaluate the concept in qualitative research literature.

Aims

This paper explores a number of issues pertaining to parsimony in qualitative research. It is the hope of the authors that this paper might raise awareness of the hitherto unexplored issues, stimulate some further interest in these and prompt other qualitative researchers to contribute to the ensuing debate.

Discussion

While there are currently no definitive criteria for determining the parsimony of qualitative research findings, it would be epistemologically inappropriate and philosophically incongruent to import and translate quantitative notions of parsimony. However, the ideas, principles and epistemological functions that parsimony serves can and should be applied to the qualitative paradigm. The authors suggest that more than one type of qualitative parsimony is required. The authors advance the argument that there is a relationship between the degree of parsimony and the elegance, ease of accessibility and straightforwardness (some might say - beauty) of the writing/findings; the level of expertise of the researcher; and the quality of the data collection interview. The authors also assert that there are a number of practices which, when adhered to, can enhance the parsimony of the findings and that here are a number of major implications arising from qualitative findings that lack parsimony.     

Attentional demand for regulating postural sway: the effect of expertise in gymnastics

A dual-task paradigm was used to investigate whether the expertise in motor skills requiring a fine postural control can modify the attentional demand necessary for regulating postural sway. Seven expert gymnasts and seven experts in other non-gymnastic sports were asked to respond as rapidly as possible to an unpredictable auditory stimulus while maintaining stable seated and in three upright postures of increasing difficulty: bipedal, unipedal, and unipedal on an unstable support (i.e. a 7 cm thick foam surface). RT values were used as an index of the attentional demand necessary for performing the postural tasks. Results showed that the attentional demand necessary for regulating postural sway increased as the postural task increased in difficulty. Interestingly, this effect was smaller for the gymnasts during unipedal stance. These findings suggest a decreased dependency on attentional processes for regulating postural sway during unipedal stance in gymnasts with respect to non-gymnasts.     

Quelle responsabilité pour l’expert ?

The question of the responsibility of the judicial expert relates to the articulation of the place of the judge and that of the expert in judicial decision-making. In the 19th century, it was recognized that the expert could not be responsible for his errors of assessment if his conclusions were adopted by the judgment: it would have been to attack the authority of the res judicata. Jurisprudence now recognizes the predominant place of expertise in the judgment of technical questions which escape the knowledge of the judge. The expert must respect the guiding principles of the trial. Its responsibility is engaged on many grounds: discipline specific to judicial expertise and ordinal discipline sometimes overlap, common law criminal liability for breach of professional secrecy and, finally, common law civil liability which obliges him to answer financially for his harmful acts.     

Electrophysiological correlates of looking at paintings and its association with art expertise

This study investigated the electrocortical correlates of art expertise, as defined by a newly developed, content-valid and internally consistent 23-item art expertise questionnaire in N = 27 participants that varied in their degree of art expertise. Participants viewed each 50 paintings, filtering-distorted versions of these paintings and plain colour stimuli under free-viewing conditions whilst the EEG was recorded from 64 channels. Results revealed P3b-/LPC-like bilateral posterior event-related potentials (ERP) that were larger over the right hemisphere than over the left hemisphere. Art expertise correlated negatively with the amplitude of the ERP responses to paintings and control stimuli. We conclude that art expertise is associated with reduced ERP responses to visual stimuli in general that can be considered to reflect increased neural efficiency due to extensive practice in the contemplation of visual art.