It traces the development of the legal doctrine within the broad social context as well as in terms of the changing public attitudes and medical advances regarding understanding of mental illness. The discussion focuses on the emergence of the profession of psychiatry and the development of an alternative mechanism of social control in the form of the mental health system. The central theme of the article is the conflict between the law and psychiatry over the subject and the concept of criminal responsibility. A total of 49 references and 9 notes are provided. (Author abstract modified)