TY - JOUR
T1 - Listening to voices
T2 - The use of phenomenology to differentiate malingered from genuine auditory verbal hallucinations
AU - McCarthy-Jones, Simon
AU - Resnick, Phillip J.
PY - 2014/3
Y1 - 2014/3
N2 - The experience of hearing a voice in the absence of an appropriate external stimulus, formally termed an auditory verbal hallucination (AVH), may be malingered for reasons such as personal financial gain, or, in criminal cases, to attempt a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. An accurate knowledge of the phenomenology of AVHs is central to assessing the veracity of claims to such experiences. We begin by demonstrating that some contemporary criminal cases still employ inaccurate conceptions of the phenomenology of AVHs to assess defendants' claims. The phenomenology of genuine, malingered, and atypical AVHs is then examined. We argue that, due to the heterogeneity of AVHs, the use of typical properties of AVHs as a yardstick against which to evaluate the veracity of a defendant's claims is likely to be less effective than the accumulation of instances of defendants endorsing statements of atypical features of AVHs. We identify steps towards the development of a formal tool for this purpose, and examine other conceptual issues pertinent to criminal cases arising from the phenomenology of AVHs.
AB - The experience of hearing a voice in the absence of an appropriate external stimulus, formally termed an auditory verbal hallucination (AVH), may be malingered for reasons such as personal financial gain, or, in criminal cases, to attempt a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. An accurate knowledge of the phenomenology of AVHs is central to assessing the veracity of claims to such experiences. We begin by demonstrating that some contemporary criminal cases still employ inaccurate conceptions of the phenomenology of AVHs to assess defendants' claims. The phenomenology of genuine, malingered, and atypical AVHs is then examined. We argue that, due to the heterogeneity of AVHs, the use of typical properties of AVHs as a yardstick against which to evaluate the veracity of a defendant's claims is likely to be less effective than the accumulation of instances of defendants endorsing statements of atypical features of AVHs. We identify steps towards the development of a formal tool for this purpose, and examine other conceptual issues pertinent to criminal cases arising from the phenomenology of AVHs.
KW - Hearing voices
KW - Insanity defense
KW - Malingering
KW - Psychosis
KW - Sanity
KW - Schizophrenia
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84893860846&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.ijlp.2013.11.004
DO - 10.1016/j.ijlp.2013.11.004
M3 - Article
C2 - 24268827
AN - SCOPUS:84893860846
SN - 0160-2527
VL - 37
SP - 183
EP - 189
JO - International Journal of Law and Psychiatry
JF - International Journal of Law and Psychiatry
IS - 2
ER -