Paranoids in the Legal System: The Litigious Paranoid and the Paranoid Criminal

Abstract

Paranoid symptomatology involving suspicions, a sense of being wronged and persecuted, along with an implacable will to retaliate against one's enemies, often translates into litigious struggles. Paranoids resort to the judicial arena to act out their own internal psychopathologic needs. Examples are offered of the many ways litigious paranoids may present within the legal system, as well as how interventions by the psychiatrist may be useful. Criminal behavior by paranoids, under the sway of full-blown delusions of various types, is discussed and analyzed. Historical cases are described (Hadfield, M'Naghten), and more contemporary cases are discussed according to diagnostic subtypes. The central importance of paranoid delusions in insanity defense cases and the exculpatory effect of various delusional subtypes are examined.