@article {Holmes77, author = {C A Holmes}, title = {Psychopathic disorder: a category mistake?}, volume = {17}, number = {2}, pages = {77--85}, year = {1991}, doi = {10.1136/jme.17.2.77}, publisher = {Institute of Medical Ethics}, abstract = {Although the concept of psychopathy retains its currency in British psychiatry, apparently being meaningful as well as useful to practitioners (1), it is often taken to refer to a purely legal category with social control functions rather than a medical diagnosis with treatment implications. I wish, in this brief article, to suggest that it is essentially, and most usefully, an ethical category which stands outside the diagnostic framework of present-day psychiatry.}, issn = {0306-6800}, URL = {https://jme.bmj.com/content/17/2/77}, eprint = {https://jme.bmj.com/content/17/2/77.full.pdf}, journal = {Journal of Medical Ethics} }