Psychiatric diagnostics in forensic psychiatric expertise versus in forensic psych iatric settings: A
case-study in the medium-security of Zelzate
The forensic psychiatrist as expert witness is crucial in the internment measure. The content of the
expert report has a large impact on the life and treatment of the person involved. The preconditions
mentioned in the diagnostic guidelines aren’t optimally met in the current organization of the expert investigation. Therefore, difference in diagnostic classification are expected, when comparing those with the ones of the treating psychiatrist after an observation period in a specific forensic psychiatric setting. This is studied in this paper for 173 cases in the medium-security unit of Zelzate. The results indicate a lot of disagreement in the classifications of expert and treating psychiatrists, especially
for personality disorders. There is stated that further research with more possibly explaining variables is needed to further clarify the found differences.