The Legal Defense of Pathological Intoxication: With Related Issues of Temporary and Self-Inflicted Insanity

Pathological intoxication has been an enigma to the law for over a century, primarily because the actual medical and psychiatric aspects of the concept have not been adequately explained before. But, as the authors of this volume point out, it is crucial for the defense attorney and the prosecutor to understand whether pathological or ordinary intoxication are involved in a particular case because pathological intoxication furnishes the basis of important and perhaps decisive defense strategies beyond those which derive from ordinary intoxication.

This interdisciplinary study provides the first in-depth exploration of both the medical and psychiatric facts underlying the phenomenon of pathological intoxication and explores the suitability of various defense theories.