Gustav Aschaffenburg (May 23, 1866 – September 2, 1944) was a German

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their sy ...

born in Zweibrücken. In 1890 he received his medical doctorate from the University of Strasbourg with a thesis on

delirium tremens Delirium tremens (DTs) is a rapid onset of confusion usually caused by withdrawal from alcohol. When it occurs, it is often three days into the withdrawal symptoms and lasts for two to three days. Physical effects may include shaking, shiver ...

. Later he worked as an assistant to Emil Kraepelin at the psychiatric university clinic in Heidelberg, with whom he later extensively wrote about

Haltlose personality disorder Haltlose personality disorder was a type of personality disorder diagnosis largely used in German-, Russian- and French-speaking countries. The German word ''haltlose'' refers to being "unstable" (literally: "without footing"), and in English- ...

. He then practiced psychiatric medicine at the University of Halle and at the ''Akademie für praktische Medizin'' in Cologne (from 1919 the University of Cologne). In the 1930s Aschaffenburg's academic career at Cologne was terminated by the Nazi edict, ''

Gesetz zur Wiederherstellung des Berufsbeamtentums The Law for the Restoration of the Professional Hitler Service (german: Gesetz zur Wiederherstellung des Berufsbeamtentums, shortened to ''Berufsbeamtengesetz''), also known as Civil Service Law, Civil Service Restoration Act, and Law to Re-es ...

'', and he eventually emigrated to the United States, working as a professor at the

Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by U.S. ...

in Washington D.C. and at Johns Hopkins University in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was d ...

. He wrote about the distinctions between

Haltlose Haltlose personality disorder was a type of personality disorder diagnosis largely used in German-, Russian- and French-speaking countries. The German word ''haltlose'' refers to being "unstable" (literally: "without footing"), and in English- ...

and Gemütlose psychopathy. Aschaffenburg was a pioneer in the fields of

criminology Criminology (from Latin , "accusation", and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'' meaning: "word, reason") is the study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is an interdisciplinary field in both the behavioural and so ...

and forensic psychiatry. In 1903 he published an early systematic study on the causes of crime titled "''Das Verbrechen und seine Bekämpfung''", in which he discusses individual-hereditary and social-environmental factors, and also dismisses

Cesare Lombroso Cesare Lombroso (, also ; ; born Ezechia Marco Lombroso; 6 November 1835 – 19 October 1909) was an Italian criminologist, phrenologist, physician, and founder of the Italian School of Positivist Criminology. Lombroso rejected the establis ...

's idea of the so-called "born criminal". Later the work was translated into English, and published as '' Crime and it's Repression'' (1913).The Free Library
Inventing the Criminal: A History of German Criminology, 1880-1945.

References

(translated biography) 1866 births 1944 deaths People from Zweibrücken People from the Palatinate (region) German psychiatrists German emigrants to the United States Catholic University of America faculty Johns Hopkins University faculty Academic staff of the University of Halle Academic staff of the University of Cologne {{Germany-psychiatrist-stub