For the protection of society, The delinquent multiple in (forensic) psychiatric, criminal anthropological and penal character assessment practices in the Belgian criminal justice system (1920-1939)

Abstract

The aim of this thesis was to study the impact of these legal and institutional changes from a bottom-up perspective. How did forensic psychiatric, criminal anthropological, and other character assessment practices develop, function, and impact the Belgian criminal justice system between 1920 and 1939? And what was the impact of the changing legal and institutional frameworks. In order to provide insight into these developments I have first analysed quantitative data from quarterly reports produced by the PAD and psychiatric annex in Leuven central prison and national statistical data from yearly reports by Statistique judiciaire de la Belgique between 1920 and 1943, and some additional data from studies by Johan Goethals and Eric Maes. In the second half of this thesis I combined a praxiographic theoretical framework based on theories by Annemarie Mol, Geertje Mak, Amade M'charek, with theories put forward by E. Summerson Carr, who views expertise as a performative interaction between studied object, users, and producers of knowledge, to analyse enactments of the criminal multiple and expertise in nine case studies. These case studies were based on sources used and produced in daily judicial practice such as PAD-reports, psychiatric evaluations, CBM-files, and social reports. As such they provided differentiated in-depth insight into the development, aim, and function of the different character assessment practices from a bottom-up perspective.