Psychological autopsy is a forensic technique that aims to establish or clarify the causes of suicide and, in some cases, determine whether a person’s death was actually caused by that circumstance, a relatively new area that has only begun to be applied systematically in the 21st century.
The term psychological autopsy was first used in the 1950s in the works of Shneidman and Farberow. Edwin S. Shneidman was an American clinical psychologist dedicated to the study of suicide and tanatology. Together with Norman Farberow and Robert Litman, he founded the Los Angeles Suicide Prevention Center in 1958.
- Since the 1920s.
- The concept of psychological autopsy had already been proposed in the United States.
- After the time known as the Great Depression.
- There was a wave of suicides in this country.
- This type of epidemic has attracted the attention of many scientists.
- Who have tried to find common causes.
- However.
- It was only with Shneidman and Farberow that this concept was consolidated.
“Suicide is the worst kind of murder because it leaves no room for repentance. “John Churton Collins?
In a psychological autopsy, an indirect and retrospective reconstruction of the life and personality of the deceased person is carried out, it is an investigative process that seeks to establish the circumstances and motives that led to a person’s suicide.
In general, it has two main objectives. The first is forensic; the second, of an epidemiological nature, psychological autopsy is ordered as part of a criminal investigation and is a complementary tool to forensic autopsy and applies in cases where the cause of death is questionable.
From an epidemiological point of view, this tool aims to collect relevant information to establish expressions of behaviors, circumstances, motivations, etc. , all this information should be used to establish common risk factors to prevent or prevent further suicides.
Although to a lesser extent, this instrument also serves other purposes, such as establishing the legal validity of pre-death actions (p. E. g. , Signature of documents), and allows to assess if there have been errors in practice, in people in the medical or psychological treatment field, structure psychological profiles and build criminological categories, among others.
This type of autopsy is mainly based on three tools: the study of the crime scene, the collection of psychological traits and the interview with people close to the victim; the crime scene study provides important clues about the whole case; the method chosen, the Arrangement of Objects Around the Body and other similar elements provide valuable information.
The study of psychological traits is done through letters, messages, newspapers and any documents or information that may be useful, either to establish a psychological profile of the victim or to clarify the circumstances in which his death occurred.
Interviews with people close to the victim also aim to gather information about the personality and motivations of suicide. This is one of the most controversial psychological autopsy procedures, as it is very difficult to establish the prejudices or interests that people may have around suicide.
There are several protocols for performing a psychological autopsy. However, one of the most commonly used is the MAPI model, developed by Dr. Teresita García Pérez, it was the Cuban doctor who shaped this method, which turned out to be very practical and functional. discussed These are:
The protocol states that the first point is to work in the facilities to understand the psychological traits, signs and indications of the circumstances of suicide.
Then a structured interview is conducted with three people close to them in 60 dimensions. These interviews take place one to six months after the fact.
Finally, an interdisciplinary analysis is carried out, involving at least one psychologist, a doctor and a criminologist, from there an expert report is prepared, of a probabilistic nature, which establishes the cause of death according to the NASH code: natural, accidental, suicide or homicide, and finally the possible causes of the fact are recorded.