Pathological gambling and criminal culpability: An analysis of forensic evaluations presented to German penal courts

In Germany penal courts and expert witnesses are being confronted with an increasing number of offenders claiming that their criminal behavior had been caused by an irresistible urge to gamble. In 48 of 56 evaluated cases the defendants were diagnosed as pathological gamblers. However, diminished culpability (§ 21 German Criminal Code) was granted in only 32 cases. In these cases the illegal activity to get money could be classified as primarily gambling related.This Article is a revised version of a paper presented at the 9th International Conference on Gambling & Risk-Taking, Las Vegas, Nevada. May 31st–June 3rd, 1994.