Journal of Forensic Investigation

Review Article

Personality Disorder, Criminal Behavior and Criminal Responsibility

Valença AM1*, Dourado Junior JB2, de França MF3, Rigonatti LF4,Cordeiro Q5, Schwengber HE6, da Silva AG7, De Borba Telles LE8 and Nardi AE9

1Institute of Psychiatry- Federal University of Rio de Janeiro-Brazil. Fluminense Federal University- Niteroi-Rio de Janeiro-Brazil
2Hospital das Clínicas. Federal University of Pernambuco-Brazil
3Universidade de Pernambuco- Brazil
4Instituto de Medicina Social e Criminologia. São Paulo-Brazil
5Federal University of São Paulo-UNIFESP- Brazil
6Programa de Pós-graduação em Segurança Pública (PPGSEG), Universidade Vila Velha (UVV)-Brazil
7Faculdade Paulista de Ciências da Saúde-Brazil
8Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul. HCPA- Brazil Institute of Psychiatry- Federal University of Rio de Janeiro-Brazil
*Address for Correspondence:Alexandre Martins Valença, Institute of Psychiatry- Federal University of Rio de Janeiro-Brazil. Fluminense Federal University- Niteroi- Rio de Janeiro-Brazil. E-mail Id: avalen@uol.com.br
Submission: 15 August, 2025 Accepted: 12 September, 2025 Published: 16 September, 2025
Copyright: © 2025 Valença AM, et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Keywords:Personality Disorders ; Criminal Responsibility ; Imputability ; Forensic Psychiatry ; Forensic Expertise ; Security Measure

Abstract

This article addresses the interface between personality disorders and criminal responsibility in the context of forensic psychiatry. It explains the legal foundations of criminal responsibility in the Brazilian Penal Code, with emphasis on the biopsychological criterion for the evaluation of criminal responsibility. It discusses the specific relationship between different types of personality disorders and criminal behavior, highlighting antisocial and borderline disorders, which are of greatest relevance in criminal forensic psychiatry.