Objective: To analyze the difference between the cognitive and control ability and the responsibility in forensic psychiatry evaluation.
Methods: To compare the results of the responsibility evaluation from 2001.1 to 2006.10 (the first period) with that of the cognitive and control ability evaluation from 2006.11 to 2010.10 (the second period). The admissibility opinions on court judgment and evaluation were investigated by return visit. The legal professions' opinions on forensic psychiatric issues from the police office, the procuratorate, the court, and the judiciary were investigated.
Results: There was no significant difference of the criminal types between two periods (P > 0.05). There was significant difference of the diagnostic types between two periods (P < 0.05). The proportion of normal range and part loss of the cognitive and control ability in the second period were higher than that in the first period, but the proportion of complete loss of the cognitive and control ability in the second period was lower than that in the first period (P < 0.05). Among the legal professions, 70.5% of them thought that "the evaluation of cognitive and control ability" was different from "the evaluation of criminal responsibility" and 94.9% of them thought that "to confirm the influence of the forensic psychiatric evaluation of mental disorder on the crime behavior" or "to assess of cognitive and control ability" met requirements of normative judicial expertise.
Conclusion: The evaluation of cognitive and control ability is more aligned with legal requirements and behavioral norms of own subject than the evaluation of responsibility.