The Ungovernable Citizen: Psychopathy, Sexuality, and the Rise of Medico-Legal Reasoning

Abstract

While law and the behavioral sciences operate on generally disparate, and often incommensurable, assumptions about human character, they have found occasions for collaboration nonetheless. One such occasion arose in the middle decades of the twentieth century around the problem of regulating antisocial behavior in subjects who did not meet conventional criteria for insanity, and yet seemed undeterred by existing legal sanctions. This Article undertakes a genealogical analysis that focuses on rhetoric and reasoning to illuminate the evolving relationship between two authoritative disciplines. It also offers an historical account that links the rise of medico-legal reasoning to new forms of sexual regulation and the emergence of sexual identities.