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An affect that arises in force. State of affect: what happens to a person

The main two are pathological and physiological affects.

Pathological affect- a short-term experience that has reached such a degree that a complete clouding of consciousness and paralysis of the will occurs. Pathological affect is a type of affect that completely excludes sanity, and, consequently, criminal liability for the committed act, which represents a temporary mental disorder. With it, a deep clouding of consciousness sets in and the person loses the ability to be aware of and direct his actions. In such cases, the person is declared insane, and therefore cannot bear criminal liability.

Also distinguish physiological affect – such emotional condition a person in whom he is sane, but his consciousness is significantly limited. Unlike pathological affect, with physiological affect the person is aware of his actions and can control them. That is why a person who commits a crime in a state of physiological affect is subject to criminal liability. Physiological affect is characterized as an emotional outburst of a high degree. It takes the human psyche out of its normal state, inhibits conscious intellectual activity, disrupts the selective moment in the motivation of behavior, complicates self-control, and deprives a person of the opportunity to firmly and comprehensively weigh the consequences of his behavior. In a state of passion, the ability to recognize the actual nature and social danger of one’s actions, as well as to manage them, is significantly reduced, which is one of the grounds for recognizing a crime committed in such a state as less socially dangerous than a crime committed in a “calm” state of mind.

Along with the main types of affect, the following are also distinguished:

Classic affect - a rapidly occurring emotional reaction of an explosive nature. It immediately follows the unlawful action of the victim, lasts for an extremely short period of time, after which there is a decline.

Cumulative (accumulative) affect. Unlike classical affect, the first phase of cumulative affect is usually extended over time - from several months to several years. During this time, a psychotraumatic situation develops, which causes the cumulation (accumulation) of emotional stress. An affective explosion in itself can occur due to a minor reason, which plays the role of the “last straw”. This type may occur in timid, indecisive individuals who are inclined to express aggression in a socially acceptable form. This emotional state arises under the condition of a protracted conflict situation, the accumulation of emotional stress over several years, usually in the service sector. Often, during the course of a conflict situation, a person experiences depression, suicide attempts, and other attempts to leave the situation. Against such a background, a peak of emotional arousal can be provoked by even minor influences.

The affectiveness of an individual, the tendency to violent emotional reactions, depends not only on temperament (cholerics in this regard differ sharply from phlegmatic people), but also on the level of her moral education, which presupposes self-control.

Human life is full of emotions. How sharper man experiences feelings, the brighter life becomes. They are conventionally divided into negative and positive. Uncontrollable negative emotions are called affect, because at this time a person commits uncontrollable actions. The article discusses examples of affect, which manifests itself in special conditions, signs and for certain reasons.

Particular attention to this issue is given in criminal law, where affect represents important, since the offender may receive a shorter sentence if he was in this state. Affect has several types, which will also be discussed in the article.

What is affect?

If we take the emotional side of affect, it is expressed in two components: negative emotions and motor activity. What is affect? These are strong feelings that manifest themselves in a hopeless, dangerous stressful situation and cause motor activity and organic manifestations.

At times of stress, a person’s consciousness narrows and the will is suppressed. A person stops thinking, because even after the affect passes, he is not able to realize the reasons for his behavior. They capture a person so strongly that he no longer thinks, but reacts.

Uncontrollable actions of people are one of the areas of study for manipulators. From there comes the science of reading people by their gestures, facial expressions, body posture, voice intonation, etc. This sphere of a person allows other people to manipulate and get from him everything they need. People who are well acquainted with how to provoke uncontrollable actions in a person are great manipulators.

The effect of suggestion is directly proportional to the amount of money paid. Notice how people easily succumb to the idea that the most expensive things are of high quality and functional. What happens to a person if he acquires such a thing? He lends himself to any idea that is advertised with this thing. In other words, a person will never believe that he bought “junk” if he spent a lot of money on it. And until the effect of suggestion wears off, the person will uncontrollably believe that he bought a quality item.

Under the influence of sudden fear, a person grabs the place where something important to him is located. You can find out where your money is (in which pocket or bag?) if you accidentally scare you. This also happens because at such moments you do not control your actions. But your short, sharp movements tell manipulators what they want to know from you. And to do this, it is important for them to touch only that emotion that will provoke you to the reaction that interests them.

Obviously, uncontrolled actions of people are a defensive reaction, but also “traitors” who give away all the secrets. However, knowing this will allow you to sometimes stop yourself from doing things that happen without your will.

Affect is an area of study in criminal law because criminals often attribute their illegal actions to this condition. The state of affect is characterized by a surge of emotions and violent movements that a person exhibits within a few minutes. However, this is enough to commit a criminal act.

It is in a state of passion that a person’s ability to control himself decreases. Therefore, in criminal law it is called “reduced legal capacity.”

Affect in psychology

Affect can be classified as an emotional sphere, since it manifests itself in the same mechanisms as emotions. A person reacts to external stimuli. Depending on his internal attitude towards them, he experiences positive or negative emotions. However, in psychology, affect is perceived not as part of a person’s inner “I”, but as an external manifestation.

Affect in psychology is strong, vivid and short-term experiences that significantly narrow consciousness and awaken energy for action.

Emotions help a person adapt to the world around him. External stimuli provoke a certain attitude towards oneself. However, the strength of emotions causes one or another state of mind. Usually, when affected, a person does not remember some details. This is characterized by memory depression. A person may not remember events that preceded the affect, his actions during the event, or what he did after.

When affected, a person loses control over himself. This is called depression of higher mental function. A person simply performs actions, sometimes without even realizing them. It’s as if he is controlled by other forces, someone else’s will. He himself doesn’t understand what he’s doing, which is what makes criminal law interesting.

In psychology, the cause of affect is a situation when a person is in a stressful state and does not see a way out. The absence of a solution to a problem that is important to a person causes strong fear combined with internal anxiety. The affect can be compared to the loss of a sense of security and protection. When a person loses a basic sense of security, he falls into affect - the desire to eliminate a dangerous situation.

Psychologists and philosophers of all times have studied this phenomenon. Today, affect in psychology plays the role of special condition, which develops at specific critical moments that arise unexpectedly. This condition They are classified as biological, instinctive, since a person seems to obey his bestial nature, and not conscious thinking.

Pay attention to how a person behaves when suddenly something unpleasant happens to him. You urgently need to go to work that the person is not interested in, or suddenly an old enemy has appeared, or you have lost money. What happens at the very moment when a person learns bad news?

A person is not able to control personal emotions and reactions in the first seconds when something is unpleasant, disliked, or irritating to him. You can monitor yourself or other people, what really worries them, interests them and how they treat you, which is noticeable only in stressful situations. A person does not control himself, or more precisely, he does not want to control himself when he does not like something. At this very moment, fear and anxiety disappear, and the person begins to do what he considers necessary, fearlessly, confidently and boldly. It is in a stressful situation that a person does not try to be someone, but becomes himself, allowing himself to do what protects him from the stress factor. And along with this, he finally demonstrates his attitude towards those people who are next to him at this time.

In a stressful situation, a person does not control himself, that is, he shows his true nature. Observe yourself and you will understand what you really want, how you really feel about certain people. Observe other people and you will see their desires and attitudes towards you that they hide at other times. This is a reason to think about why you are deceiving yourself; other people are not telling you the whole truth. What you see should be noticed and taken seriously, since this is also part of nature, which always manifests itself in stressful situations that happen almost every day.

Types of affect

Affect varies in its manifestations. Here are the types of affect, which are characterized by their own characteristics:

Physiological is a sane state in which a person can understand what is happening and what he is doing. Often isolated. It is formed against the background of mental limitations.
Pathological is a condition in which a person does not control his actions. He is called insane because he completely loses consciousness and becomes weak-willed. Psychologists mark it as a condition requiring treatment, since the function between the balance of inhibition and excitation of the nervous system is disrupted.
Cumulative is a condition that develops against the background of constant or periodic exposure to a stimulus on a person. In other words, it can be called an affective explosion, when “a person cannot stand” the tension.
Interrupted – a state that is interrupted by an external stimulus.
Negative – a condition that depresses the psyche and motor activity.
Positive – a state in which a person loses the tendency to analytical narrowing. He begins to think in stereotyped ways, his decisions become lightning fast, and his actions become reactive, that is, thoughtless.
The affect of inadequacy is a condition that develops against the backdrop of failure. This happens in situations where a person overestimated his own abilities and was confident that he was ready to achieve results, but the reality turned out to be different. Psychologists note it in people with high self-esteem. When failure occurs, a person is not able to adequately respond to it, which is expressed in aggression, irritability, anger, rage, and hysteria.

Affect manifests itself in three phases:

Preparatory (pre-affective) - some understanding of what is happening is retained, but it is gradually erased. The perception of the situation is gradually depressed, emotions become stronger.
Reaction (affective explosion) is the state of affect itself, when the will is suppressed, psychological processes become disordered, and actions are performed chaotically, quickly and uncontrollably. There are only two reactions here: run away and hide, or repel and attack.
Initial (post-affective, final) – depletion of a person’s physical and mental resources, which stops him from committing actions. There may be a desire to fall asleep here.

Signs of affect

The main signs of affect appear in external manifestations, which can be described by others, as well as in the internal experiences that the person himself speaks about.

External manifestations:

Uncontrolled motor activity.
Changes in speech and facial expressions.
Change in appearance.

Inner feelings:

“Everything was like a dream.”
“I vaguely remember.”
“Something broke inside.”

If we turn to criminal law, then affect is described in the following terms:

Explosive character.
Profound mental changes.
Suddenness of occurrence.

Affect refers to emotional experiences of a strong nature. A person expresses his inner experiences in different ways. Affect is characterized by the following mental factors:

Acute dissatisfaction.
Specific hormonal, autonomic and other physiological changes.
High mental energy and desire for release.

In addition to the fact that a person changes in facial expression and begins to perform chaotic actions, a change in thinking and attention is observed when he is unable to concentrate, distribute, and concentrate it. A person loses control over his actions and also becomes unable to make decisions.

Affect becomes:

Short-term in duration.
Unconscious.
With dominant emotions.
With high intensity of experiences.
Expressive.
Spontaneous.
With the manifestation of amnesia.

A person in a state of passion experiences the following sensations:

Disorientation in time, space, culture, situation, etc.
Feeling of hopelessness.
Sleep disturbance: first a complete lack of sleepiness, and then a desire to sleep.
Chronic fatigue, high fatigue, the occurrence of diseases.
Feeling of alienness of actions: “It was as if it was not me, but someone controlling me.”
Distortion of perception, appearance of illusions, narrowing of consciousness.
Loss of reality.
Loss of control over actions.

Affect is a violent reaction that manifests itself in chaotic actions and changes in consciousness, when a person may not even understand what is happening. Outwardly, he becomes “not himself.”

Affect in criminal law

Particular attention is paid to affect in criminal law, since many criminals refer to the uncontrollability of their own actions that they committed. The extent to which a person was under the influence of passion is decided by specialists who diagnose the defendant in criminal law.

A sign of affect is a violation of mental activity, which has led to unawareness of the consequences of one’s own actions. The defendant's attention is directed to the object of irritation, which causes emotional stress, which leads to the loss of the ability to choose his own model of behavior. A person does not choose or think, but is focused on eliminating the object of irritation.

In forensic psychiatry, affect is considered a state when a person is unable to control his own actions. They happen as if on their own. If it has been proven that the person was under the influence of passion, then this becomes a serious basis for mitigating the sentence. However, for this there must be special conditions.

Psychology does not name clear stimuli that can lead to affect. Because the criminal law must be clear and specific, for this reason special conditions have been identified that are considered to provoke an affective state:

Insults from the victim.
Violence.
Psychotraumatic situation of a long-term nature.
Mockery.
Illegal or immoral actions of the victim.

A distinctive feature of passion in criminal law is the suddenness of its occurrence. Witnesses and the victim himself may say that “they did not expect what would happen.” Indeed, a person does not think through his own actions in advance. A stimulus suddenly arises that leads to affect, manifested in criminal actions. The situation becomes one-time and significant for the accused.

The first person to diagnose affect is the lawyer. It is he who is given the role of initially determining whether the criminal was in a state of passion. This is done based on the following points:

What preceded the criminal actions? If situations are identified that are considered objective for the occurrence of affect, then the lawyer can declare an affective state when committing a crime.
Behavior of the criminal when committing illegal actions. If they can be defined as affective, then the lawyer insists on them.
What did the criminal do after the actions were committed? If he doesn’t remember anything and was “not himself,” which is confirmed by witness testimony, then it becomes a serious basis for mitigating the sentence.

State of affect and its examples

Affect has stages of development that manifest themselves in external behavior. How a person behaves will be discussed using examples. The state of affect begins with sudden excitement, which less quickly turns into inhibition, which is accompanied by fatigue, loss of strength, and stupor. All this is accompanied by emotional excitement, which completely disappears and is pacified at the braking stage.

If at the stage of development of affect it is still possible to pacify emotional unrest, then at the moment of its manifestation this becomes impossible. This is why many people note the futility of trying to stop a person in a state of passion. If you look into his eyes, you can see something different there than was usually seen there.

A person in a state of passion really becomes different. This is due to the fact that its highest mental system completely depressed. All that remains is the body and instincts, which are subordinated to emotions that arise under the influence of the psyche. There are two types of behavior of people in a state of passion:

Expression of rage, screaming, violent and strong movements.
Manifestation of confusion, despair, delight.

There are examples of how mentally weak people, in a state of passion, committed actions that they would never have taken in a calm state.

Examples of affect include the following situations:

Beating a rival whom the husband found in bed with his wife.
Overcoming a high obstacle when an angry dog is chasing a person.
Knocking down a door or hitting a wall where a deep dent is created.
Beating his wife while intoxicated.
A sudden cry that occurs after a heated conversation about an unpleasant topic.

Many criminal acts are committed out of passion, but only a few of them are considered justified. This marks a person’s inability to restrain his own emotions, control their development, and also calm himself down.

Causes of affect

Duration of influence negative factor leads to the appearance of one or another emotional state. The causes of affect are traumatic situations that arise at the moment. A person does not enter into a state of passion just from memories of something unpleasant. IN this moment Some traumatic and mentally unpleasant situation must occur to provoke the condition in question.

Here are the following common situations - causes of affect:

A threatening, dangerous, physically traumatic situation that can cause harm.
Time pressure – it is necessary to act quickly or react in a short period of time.
Sudden strong irritation of a person when he does not have a plan of action in such a situation.
A protracted conflict or a highly emotional situation of an unpleasant nature.
The emergence of a conflict between the need to act and the inability or unwillingness to act.
Periodic repetition of a traumatic situation.
Individual characteristics and structure of the nervous system (instability, mobility).
The influence of others, which affects a person’s self-esteem and hurts his feelings.
Impulsivity and increased emotionality.
Heavy memories that destroy existence.

Much depends on the person’s attitude to what is happening. It also depends on the structure of the nervous system of each individual. One will be able to remain calm, the other will react very violently. Some emotions can be controlled if a person engages in self-education and develops an adequate attitude to what is happening.

It is worth highlighting the excessive demands that keep people in constant tension. If a person expects too much from himself or takes on the responsibility of meeting the expectations of others, then he causes constant tension in himself. It is impossible to always achieve success and please everyone. Facing failure instantly provokes a range of unpleasant feelings, guilt and fear of what other people will say. If people notice failure and point it out, it can lead to an affective reaction.

When a person is humiliated, subjected to emotional pressure or suppression of his self-esteem, this also leads to the development of affect. A person cannot withstand external pressure and explodes.

No emotions - no problems. Conflict situations arise only when a person succumbs to his negative emotions, which tell him: “I don’t want this to happen. I imagined something different." And you, succumbing to emotions, begin to change the situation, other people and circumstances. You want it to be your way, but you get a rebuff in the form of problems, quarrels with other people, illnesses, etc. You just succumbed to emotions that didn’t like something, after which you decided to change the world to suit your desires. However, if you did not give in to your emotions, you would simply experience a certain situation that would become a thing of the past, remaining unnoticed. You would not give any importance to the situation, which means it would pass into the past without creating any problem.

Treatment of affect

Depending on the exact state the person is in and what he has already done, an individual course of treatment for affect is prescribed. It is usually recommended to consult a psychologist if the affect is isolated. If depression and accompanying suicidal thoughts occur, hospitalization is necessary, which implies constant supervision by doctors. Here 5 ml of Aminazine 2.5% solution is used.

If affect is a factor in psychosis, then treatment is prescribed by a psychiatrist who will control manic and depressive states. Antidepressants are prescribed here. Electroconvulsive therapy is used when it is impossible to achieve an effect from drug treatment. Mania is eliminated with neuroleptics: Clopixol, Azaleptin, Tizercin. Manic patients are hospitalized because they are capable of harming others.

If euphoria is observed during the affect, then the person is hospitalized, as this may indicate intoxication or disorders in the brain.

If we are talking about mentally and physically healthy people, it will be sufficient to undergo a course of treatment from a psychologist who will help in solving internal unrest.

How to control your emotions? Most likely, you have noticed that it is impossible to control what you cannot touch, measure or lock. Emotions are something invisible, quickly arising, filling. Sometimes feelings are so strong that it is impossible to control them. What can you do with what you can't hold in your hands?

There is no need for control here. Understanding and tracking are the actions that will help you cope with your emotions.

Firstly, you should understand that you will not be able to calm down your emotions or prevent yourself from feeling them. They don't ask your permission. Moreover, they arise before you even begin to feel them. It is impossible to stop an invisible train that has already accelerated and is rushing along a well-trodden track.

Secondly, you still need to understand that emotions are not controlled, but tracked and understood. You must understand what you feel and track exactly how your emotions manifest themselves in you. How exactly do you get angry? What does resentment make you do? How do you react with joy or disappointment? People usually wonder about controlling negative emotions because the reactions, actions and consequences of positive emotions make everyone happy.

Third, just don't do what your emotions make you do. When you feel a negative emotion, you have certain desires. The offended person has a desire to take revenge, the disappointed person has a desire to retire, the angry person has a desire to inflict pain. But you may not do what your emotions force you to do. This will be exactly the control you dream of, because you are not satisfied with what you feel, but with what you begin to do under the guidance of your emotions. The most ideal way out of the situation is not to do what your emotions provoke you to do.

You can feel, experience, experience your emotions. All people experience emotions - this is quite normal. And the best control over with your own feelings- do not do what they force you to do, but decide for yourself what actions to take.

Be distracted by something else that is not related to the object causing the affect.
Change the environment or activity.
Calm your motor reactions, for example, by doing breathing exercises.

If the above tips do not give the desired result, then you should seek psychological help.

Bottom line

A person must understand that emotions are not bad, but they must be understood and controlled. The result of the developing affect can be sad: a person will commit an illegal act, which will put him in prison for a long time or send him to a psychiatric hospital. Healthy people are advised not to indulge their emotional state and control their own experiences.

When a person is influenced by his emotions, then problems arise. Notice that when a person is calm, he thinks about his every step. He traces the consequences of his actions, after which he decides whether to do something or not. But when a person is under the influence of his emotions, he does not think about whether he needs to do something or not. He simply takes and does what the feelings that overwhelm him at the moment tell him.

Emotions, as you know, are not always only positive. Often, literally any little thing can ruin your mood: someone stepped on your foot, your boss doesn’t give you a salary or scolded you for the work you’ve done, your loved one yelled because you didn’t do something, etc. Every day There are many factors that can cause negative emotions. And what happens when you give in to them?

No emotions - no problems. Why is that?

Firstly, because you don’t guess, don’t think out, don’t attach an emotional color to the situation. You simply look at what is happening with a sober and cold look, seeing everything as it really happens. You don’t think about what could happen if something else happened, you don’t guess what other participants in a particular situation were thinking about, you don’t evaluate what’s happening, whether you like it or not. You simply look at the situation as it unfolds in front of you, taking into account only what you see, without any emotional coloring.

Secondly, you perceive any situation as it is. If they tell you something unpleasant, then you listen to it calmly, because you do not involve emotions. You simply hear what they say or do to you, without thinking whether you like it or not. And this in turn does not give you a chance to create a problem out of what is happening. Yes, people may say unpleasant things to you. But if you listen calmly, silently draw your conclusions and say nothing to your interlocutor, then no quarrel will happen. Your opponent expressed his opinion, you drew your conclusions - everyone was happy.

Live without problems. Feel your emotions, but don't let them control you. Look at the events taking place calmly, indifferently, without emotions. Based on your composure, draw conclusions, make decisions and act. Let your emotions rage on their own, and you kind of move away from them so that they don’t interfere with your thinking soberly and clearly. This will save you not only from affect, but also from other negative emotional states.

The criminal legal meaning of affect is a controversial point in jurisprudence. This psychological deviation creates difficulties in qualifying the crime and further determining the punishment. The process of proof also raises doubts, since passion in criminal law is a phenomenon that is significant only at the moment when the act was committed. At the same time, the criminal law presupposes several norms that establish measures of responsibility in the event of detection of such crimes and establishes precise definition affect.

The state of affect in criminal law does not differ in understanding from the version of psychologists. It represents a strong emotional disturbance that always arises suddenly. It is provoked by specific actions that are committed by the victim and are immoral in nature.

The duration of such behavior also influences the definition of such a disorder. It can be either a one-time act or systematic actions. The circumstance that caused the condition in question cannot cover the person’s intent to commit a crime; it gives rise to a sudden desire that is uncontrollable by the perpetrator.

To establish the disorder, psychological and physiological research methods are used. They must be applied together to fully reflect the individual's condition.

In the criminal legal sphere, the anomaly in question is a significant factor also because it is considered as limited sanity, and its presence is required condition to apply liability measures. Accordingly, such a disorder is of a mitigating nature, since a person is unable to independently control what is happening, which makes intent less obvious.

To correctly establish the psychological deviation in question, signs of affect are determined in criminal law. The criminological nature of such provisions is important, since psychology considers this phenomenon in the most general and accurate understanding.

The uniqueness of the phenomenon under consideration can also reveal its features.

Its presence can be proven by the following provisions:

the occurrence of a deviation always involves suddenness, such a state breaks a person’s will, not allowing him to control the actions performed;
the disorder passes briefly, no more than a few minutes, but an exact figure cannot be established;
emotional limit, the peak of a person’s condition is always expected to be reached;
the body’s reaction, often a person may develop red spots on the body, arrhythmia, voice changes, and so on;
increased activity, since in the state under consideration a person’s actions are always chaotic and unconscious;
lack of control, which implies that the person does not manage himself and does not understand what is happening;
disproportionality of actions to those committed by the victim;
grave consequences of the actions taken.

Taking into account these points, the affect itself and its criminal legal significance are determined, which contributes to the correct classification of crimes.

The main legal cause of mental abnormality is the behavior of the victim, which is negative. It can become an impetus immediately, after some news has been conveyed to the culprit or an immoral offense has been committed against him, or it can create a cumulative effect.

The result of the disorder is always complete or partial loss of memory, since the brain automatically blocks access to negative emotions and their consequences.

Example: a woman has suffered humiliation and beatings from her husband for a long time. At a certain moment negative emotion develops into a disorder that leads to sudden emotional disturbance, and she kills her husband by stabbing him several times. Everything is there: the influence of the negative behavior of the murdered person, the disproportionality of beatings and murder, increased activity, lack of awareness of what is happening. As a result, she simply does not remember what happened.

Characteristics of the subject mental state make it possible to determine it in case of illegal actions. However, they are largely influenced by the types of affect defined in criminal law. Regardless of the type of disorder, a person always partially retains the ability to be aware of what is happening, that is, he does not fall into a state of complete insanity.

For criminal law, the very fact of establishing a deviation is important; it must determine the indicator of sanity that would mitigate or cancel responsibility for the crime.

Any mental anomaly is always associated with the human psyche. Physical disabilities uncharacteristic of the disorder. For example, if a person is mute, then this cannot serve as a determining factor. The impact is on emotions. Their manifestation determines what affective state will be established.

In criminal law, several types of affect are taken into account. The characteristics of each of them determine the nature of the disorder when it is classified.

These types include the following:

This deviation leads to negative consequences, disrupting the psyche and reducing a person’s activity even after the excitement has arisen.

Actions of a criminal nature that are accompanied by a mental disorder not related to insanity are widely covered by criminal law. Today, the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation contains several articles establishing penalties for such acts. As a separate phenomenon, such a feature is not reflected in the legislation in any way.

In the law, the topic of affect is addressed by separate articles of the code that define acts that may be associated with such a disorder.

These include the following:

The work of psychiatrists concerns only those subjects in whom the disorder leads to serious consequences. Minor harm, beatings or other similar actions cannot be associated with passion.

Regardless of the nature of the act, it is necessary to determine the objective and subjective characteristics that form the corpus delicti of any crime.

In the criminal sphere, it is important to establish other circumstances that determine an action as illegal. Emotional anxiety is only one of several. However, it is important to understand whether the murder was caused by direct intent or whether the act was of a different nature.

For any act, it is important to determine the object, what is being harmed. The objective side is the manifestation of encroachment. This forms a set of objective conditions. Subjective ones include the characteristics of the person himself - the culprit, and the subjective side. It involves the presence of guilt - a person’s attitude towards what he does. Affect is a component of guilt.

Guilt is expressed only in the form of intent or negligence. Affect is accompanied by intent, but not planned, but caused by certain circumstances. In addition, the deviation itself is an optional feature that accompanies guilt and transforms into a mandatory one if it is necessary to determine the acts under the above articles.

In criminal law, to determine the nature of the act committed in the state in question, it is necessary to establish the following conditions essential to the case:

intent, as the subjective side of an act;
sudden excitement;
uncontrolled actions leading to serious consequences;
unacceptable, negative behavior on the part of the injured party, regardless of whether it was momentary or lasted for some time.

The last two provisions relate specifically to the objective side of the matter; without them, it will not be possible to determine such a state of a person.

Control point when defining a disorder, it is the planning of all actions, as well as the behavior of the perpetrator after the act has been completed. This affects the objective side of the issue. For example, if the fact of preparation for a crime is established or after the crime the person tried to hide traces, then the act cannot automatically be considered committed in the heat of passion. Suddenness refers not only to the manifestation of disorder, but also to the implementation of criminal actions.

According to judicial practice, most of the acts were committed in a state of passion by men. Such information determines the contradictions, since the male gender is considered the most reserved. But statistics show that 89% of crimes are committed by men and only 10% of crimes committed by women.

Regardless of gender and psychological characteristics specific individuals, criminal law identifies a number of problems with the establishment of mental anomalies. Only a psychiatrist can identify such a disorder, and their method today requires improvement. This is the first problem in establishing the fact that an act was committed due to a mental disorder.

The next problem is timeliness. On the one hand, due to circumstances beyond the control of the authorities, it is not always possible to carry out the examination on time. But on the other hand, the work of the police and investigative structures itself often leads to problems over time.

When determining deviations, it is important to pay attention not only to general rules and principles of psychology, but also on individual personality traits.

Any examination presupposes the availability of material with which to work. In this situation, this is the state of mind of a person who is accused of committing an offense. The more time passes from the moment of the incident to the investigation, the lower the likelihood of establishing the actual condition of the person. The work of both psychologists and law enforcement officers must proceed quickly and as smoothly as possible, which is extremely rare today.

The next problem is the procedure for identifying deviations itself. The psychologist must prove through his research that there really was emotional disturbance. In addition, it is important to distinguish between affect and complete insanity.

For the investigator, the establishment of a disorder is directly related to the establishment of events as crimes:

All activities must be carried out in totality, but as practice shows, such an anomaly is established only according to one or two conditions, which does not exclude simulation and errors in qualifying actions. Definitions of affect can be either expert or non-expert, which reduces the accuracy of research findings.

Due to the fact that the court itself can determine whether there was a deviation or not, circumstances are provided in the presence of which it can be said with certainty that there is no disorder:

excitement increases in proportion to the process of conflict development;
negative behavior comes from both sides in the quarrel;
an alternation of anger and calmness has been established during a showdown;
distraction by circumstances outside the conflict, thereby reducing the level of emotional instability;
a presentation was made of one’s intentions to commit a crime;
hiding traces, evidence, destroying the body, and so on.

The establishment of at least one of these factors determines that this is only a simulation in order to avoid punishment.

Thus, affect is a mental disorder that exists for a short period of time and can only arise suddenly. This condition is significant for the criminal legal sphere, since the qualification of several serious crimes will depend on the fact of its establishment, provided for by the standards Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

In relation to criminal law, people who are poorly versed in law and forensic psychiatry tell different things about the state of passion. It is often stated, for example, that such a state can be simulated - then, they say, you won’t have to answer for murder.

In fact, everything is completely different. Affect is a state when a person, under the influence of extremely strong emotions, commits actions that are weakly amenable to conscious control (for example, commits violence towards someone who aroused such emotions in him). Although such a reaction is absolutely normal (anyone, even the most calm and balanced person, can be driven to the point of passion), it cannot be simulated.

Any negative emotion (fear, despair, anger, etc.) can cause such a state, but the affective state affects not only the person’s psyche, but also his physical state. As a result, a qualified forensic expert can easily detect physiological consequences (or lack thereof) in an examination conducted shortly after the affect.

Types of affect

Medical specialists distinguish several types of affect:

Physiological. Here the affect arises mentally healthy person under the influence of a situation that greatly traumatizes his psyche, causing moral or physical suffering. Speaking in simple language, a person endures to a certain limit, and then “explodes”, while he is no longer able to control his actions. Exactly practically complete absence self-control affect and is different from simple seizure anger or rage. Although someone in a state of passion practically does not perceive words, it is still possible to bring him to his senses. At the same time, it is important to pay attention to the word “practically”: a person still has some remnants of control when he is affected, so he will be responsible for his actions according to the law.
Pathological. This affect occurs as one of the symptoms mental illness, like a kind of attack.
Under the influence of surfactants ( psychoactive substances) . Such substances include drugs, alcohol, and some other substances with similar effects. The reaction to intoxication, for example, is individual for everyone, but in practice, alcoholic affect, in which the drunk does not understand what he is doing, unfortunately occurs quite often. Moreover, alcohol is one of the types of surfactants that provoke aggression. In historical terms, the behavior of Scandinavian berserkers can be partly called similar to affect. True, historians believe that their famous “battle frenzy” was more of a simulation.

It should be noted that from the point of view of modern psychiatry, a person can experience physiological affect only once in his life. This is an extreme (and even extreme) stress reaction, the likelihood of recurrence of which is almost zero. Pathological affect can also be repeated if the current illness contributes to this.

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In addition, experts note intermediate options between physiological and pathological affects. Thus, in persons who have suffered severe traumatic brain injury or infectious diseases, affecting the brain, with general sanity, sometimes states were noted that were not ordinary physiological affect, but did not reach the depth of pathological affect.

In what cases does an affective state occur?

If we do not take into account cases when sick or intoxicated people fall into passion, then such a condition can arise in a healthy person:

Suddenly, as a result of a very sharp but short experience.
As a result of a long-term situation that traumatizes the psyche, when some next circumstance, although insignificant in itself, becomes the last straw that triggers a state of passion. The situation that led to affect can unfold over days, months and even years. The latter especially often happens when murder in a state of passion is committed on the basis of family violence.

Here, more than ever, they manifest themselves sharply individual differences in the human psyche: circumstances that one person hardly notices can drive another to passion and committing criminal acts. That is why the investigation of crimes committed in this state, in mandatory requires the involvement of experts of the relevant profile (psychologists, psychiatrists, etc.).

The meaning of affect in criminal law

Criminal legislation identifies affect as a special feature of a crime in 2 cases:

If in this state the perpetrator committed murder.
If bodily harm classified as severe or moderate has been caused. In relation to minor harm, affect is not particularly distinguished and, from the point of view of the law, has no significance.

In both cases, the legislator emphasizes that the emotional disturbance leading to passion must arise under the influence of the victim. The actions of the person affected in these cases must manifest a desire to intentionally insult, humiliate or commit violence. Accordingly, the victim of a crime in a state of passion can only be the one who brought the perpetrator to such a state. If third parties were harmed, the offender’s reference to an affective state is not taken into account and does not play a role in qualifying the crime.

It should be noted that for qualification under criminal law, the physiological affect that arose in a mentally healthy person is taken into account. The pathological affect of a mentally ill person is no longer the subject of attention so much of investigators and judges as of psychiatrists. In this case, the person who committed the crime will not be punished, but will be sent to compulsory treatment.

Internal signs of affective state

From the outside, affect can manifest itself in different ways, but there are a number of common points. They allow us to judge with some confidence whether a person is already in this state or is on the verge of a breakdown.

From the point of view of the person himself, the signs of affect are:

Disturbances in the functioning of the sense organs. The state of affect can affect hearing (the sound of blood in the ears), vision (darkness in the eyes or, on the contrary, “white fire”, a hazy look), tactile and even pain sensitivity (a person receives wounds, cuts, burns, but does not react to them ).
Change in skin color: sudden pallor or, on the contrary, redness of the face.
Sharply accelerated heartbeat. Those who have been in a state of passion often use expressions such as “the heart was jumping out of the chest”, “the pulse was beating right in the throat.”
Speech impairment. At the peak, a person may completely lose the ability to speak due to spasm of the jaw and throat muscles. If he still tries to say something, his voice becomes characteristically “clanging” and stops short.
Trembling limbs, sudden sweating, or excessive dryness of the palms.
Stomach and intestinal upset (diarrhea, constipation, nausea).
At the end - a sharp loss of strength, decreased tone, a feeling of extreme fatigue (even if no physically difficult actions were performed). There have been cases when, after a murder, in a state of passion, the criminal simply fell and fell asleep next to the victim.
Memory impairment: a person may not remember at all or vaguely remember what he did while in a state of passion.

External signs

People around you can pay attention to the following behavioral features:

In the first phase, when the affect has not yet begun, but the tension is growing, the person becomes fussy and makes erratic and unconnected movements.
He does not perceive speech addressed to him well, has difficulty remembering information, and loses flexibility in responding to the situation.
The main sign is the suddenness and explosive nature of the reaction. The affect lasts from tens of seconds to 2-3 minutes, no longer.

Doctors can also detect the consequences of affect in the form of changes in the hormonal composition of the blood, changes in pulse, blood pressure, etc.

Is it possible to interrupt an affective state?

A characteristic feature of affect is that it is not subject to volitional control on the part of the person himself. Thus, it can neither be deliberately caused nor canceled once it has begun to unfold.

However, experts note that outside intervention can interrupt the unfolding affect. More precisely, psychological and physiological mechanisms will continue to operate, but in a more smoothed out form, as a result a person will be able to calm down without performing poorly controlled actions.

From a psychological and psychiatric point of view emotional sphere human – a phenomenon that is not always controllable. One of the extreme, even borderline, manifestations of human emotions is the experience of a state of passion. What are its main characteristics and features?

What it is?

A mental state that is short in time and significant in the intensity of the experience, accompanied by sudden motor manifestations and physiological changes in the body, is called “ affect».

In psychology, this is one of the concepts that accompany critical situations for a person, when he is not able to find a way out of a subjectively difficult, unexpected situation.

The psychological structure of affect is such that this emotional state affects the sphere of the psyche in general, in particular, the human consciousness. The characteristic properties of affect for consciousness are very closely interrelated:

narrowing of consciousness – the surrounding situation is perceived only through the prism of affectively colored ideas and experiences, there is a decrease in the accuracy and completeness of the reflection of all events;
fixation of consciousness – a fixation on an emotional stimulus occurs, therefore the person’s habitual behavior changes (the ability to manage one’s actions and self-control is weakened).

Affect in the human body occurs as a specific process that has its own stages:

initial: includes conscious actions, but narrowing and fixating on the source of emotional and mental trauma;
overexcitation stage(explosion): active inhibition of functional capabilities is observed brain activity, the center of emotions in the cerebral cortex is maximally activated - control over oneself is lost, it is not the situation itself that is perceived, but ideas about it, as a result of which antisocial actions are committed;
decline stage(exhaustion): excessive internal tension replaced by devastation (exhaustion nervous forces and energy), lethargy, unnatural relaxation, and indifference to the action (even to the point of prostration) arise.

Causes

An individual’s predisposition to affective reactions is determined by several factors:

Features of the nervous system . The course of nervous processes, with physiological point vision, each person has his own. People with weak nervous system (nervous processes easily excitable) are susceptible to affective reactions much more often than those with a strong nervous system.
IN age characteristics . The periods of formation of character and personality in general - adolescence and youth - are more unstable. Affect, as a reaction to traumatic events and experiences, is easily born here. Elderly age, due to weakening of the nervous mental processes, is also more susceptible to the emergence of a state of passion.
Short-term weakening of the body . Caused by fatigue, overexertion (physical, mental nature), pregnancy, long-term or serious illnesses, etc. A person experiences an asthenic state, characterized by fatigue (occurs faster than usual), unstable mood, decreased quality of attention, memory and other mental properties.

Most studies see the cause of affect as a consequence of being in certain conditions and situations, called affectogenic:

An extreme option and example of the emotional situations described is murder committed in the heat of passion(for the purpose of protecting oneself) - a criminal act committed at the peak of emotional and psychophysiological stress, as a reaction to violent or extremely offensive actions, bullying (humiliation).

Types and signs

TO characteristic features affect includes the following indicators:

suddenness (the quality of the emotional-volitional state changes abruptly and is poorly controlled);
features of occurrence (either suddenly, as a reaction to a significant traumatic experience, or as a consequence of a long stay in a traumatic situation);
lack of volitional regulation (the individual does not control his own actions even during criminal acts).

Depending on whether a person has a healthy psyche or has a mental disorder mental health, it is customary to divide affect into 2 large groups.

Physiological . Represents the psychological understanding of affect in " pure form"When the psyche normal person reacts to an affectogenic situation physiologically (with unrestrained motor behavioral manifestations) and psychologically (with a temporary narrowing and fixation of consciousness). A short-term emotional-volitional disturbance is observed.
Pathological . This type of affect is characteristic of people with deviations in the individual mental sphere. An affective reaction is observed against the background of a pathological soil of the psyche ( mental disorders and diseases various kinds), we are even talking about the complete insanity of a person experiencing affect.

Treatment and consequences

The mental state of a person experiencing affect is associated with a significant load on the emotional-volitional sphere. This is a combination of anxiety and depression.

Primary affect (initial stage), if a person has a sane state, you can slow down by switching attention from the traumatic factor.

If there is a state of insanity, mandatory procedure should provide psychological and psychiatric care. On the background anxiety disorder and it is the psychiatrist who will determine depression adequate treatment. Symptoms mental disorders should be “removed” both medicinally - by prescribing antidepressants, and with the help of psychotherapeutic influence.

Consequences stormy emotional manifestations When affected, there is always a decrease in the level of nervous energy and a decrease in the potential of nervous forces.

During psychotherapy it is important:

determine the characteristics of the maladaptive behavior of a person with affect, leading to a deepening of symptoms;
establish patterns of destructive (destructive) behavior that reduce adaptability to traumatic experiences.

During cognitive behavioral therapy, a negative attitude towards reality and one’s own personality should switch to a positive one.

Understanding the characteristics of the state of affect, its characteristics from the point of view of the course of mental processes will serve effective means its prevention or prevention.

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