Impact of Premenstrual Syndrome on Criminal Responsibility of Women

Abstract

Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is a medical condition that occurs in women a few days before menstruation and is accompanied by a wide range of psychological and physical symptoms. Some of the most common psychological symptoms of PMS are restlessness, irritability, sudden mood swings, and angry outbursts. Due to the nature of these symptoms, the question arises whether psychological symptoms of this kind can influence or contribute to the commission of a criminal offense by a woman during the premenstrual period. If the answer to this question is affirmative, from the point of view of criminal law, should the existence of PMS in a woman at the time of the commission of the crime be of importance when determining the criminal responsibility of a woman? To answer these questions, the author of this paper defines PMS, explains its etiology, and describes the basic psychological symptoms that appear during this period. The author presents the results of research that indicates a significant connection between PMS and anger attacks in women, as well as research that indicates that there is a notable connection between PMS and women’s criminality. In one part of the paper, the author considers how criminal law should assess the circumstances of existing PMS at the moment of a woman committing a crime. The author concludes that PMS should certainly not be seen as a universal defense for women who commit a criminal offense, but she does not exclude the possibility that in certain cases PMS can affect a woman’s criminal responsibility in the sense that it can cause insanity, lead to sanity reduction or be taken into account as a mitigating circumstance in sentencing.