Reinhard Haller

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Reinhard Haller 001.jpg

Reinhard Haller at the trial of Josef Fritzl in St. Pölten (March 18, 2009)

Reinhard Haller (born September 25, 1951 in Mellau , Bregenzerwald ) is an Austrian psychiatrist , psychotherapist and non-fiction author. He is also known as a forensic psychiatric court expert. Among other things, he wrote reports in the cases of the sex murderer Jack Unterweger , the letter bomb bomber Franz Fuchs , the rampage in Winnenden , the rampage in Graz and the knife attack in the BH Dornbirn.

From 1983 to 2017 Haller was chief physician at the Maria Ebene Hospital in Frastanz , a psychiatric-psychotherapeutic clinic with a focus on addictions, and the associated drug stations "Carina" and "Lukasfeld" as well as the advice centers "Clean". Since then he has continued to work as a reviewer, consultant, author and lecturer. Several of his non-fiction books on psychological topics topped the non-fiction bestseller lists for months.

Career

From 1971 to 1976 Reinhard Haller studied medicine and from 1977 to 1983 he completed his training as a specialist in psychiatry , neurology and psychotherapy . In 1994 he completed his habilitation at the University of Innsbruck on the subject of "Mental Disorders and Crime" .

In 1983 Haller was appointed chief physician of the Maria Ebene Foundation , the Vorarlberg treatment center for addicts. The therapy concepts he developed do not regard addiction as an isolated disorder, but rather as a symptom of underlying biopsychosocial problems and pursue an integrative therapeutic approach.

Haller has been sworn in as an expert for forensic psychiatry since 1983 and has worked in this role for various domestic and foreign courts, public prosecutors, lawyers and insurance companies.

From 1990 to 2019 Haller was the drug commissioner of the Vorarlberg state government . He developed several drug concepts for the country. He acts as an expert for questions of addiction prevention, treatment and rehabilitation in the focus area of ​​illegal drugs. Haller organized the development and further development of the comprehensive addiction care network in Vorarlberg.

From 1990 to 2007 Haller headed the University Institute for Addiction Research at the Psychiatric University Clinic Innsbruck . He still teaches there today. Haller was a visiting professor at the University of Klagenfurt .

In 1990 Haller founded the workshop for addiction prophylaxis (“Supro”), Austria's first addiction prevention center. Campaigns like “Make children strong” or “More fun with moderation” can be traced back to Haller. In the last few years, when Haller was with the "Supro", he created outpatient and inpatient treatment concepts for gambling addicts, internet addicts, shopaholics and nicotine addicts .

Haller is responsible for the post-doctoral additional training "Forensic Psychiatry" of the Austrian Medical Association. Its aim is to increase the quality of forensic-psychiatric reports and to standardize applicable standards, especially in the area of ​​prognosis.

Reinhard Haller has been president of the New Criminological Society since 2006 . He is a member of the scientific advisory board of the Upper Austrian think tank Academia Superior, founded in December 2010 .

Haller is a member of several victim protection commissions, such as that of the Austrian Ski Association and the independent victim protection advocacy (“ Klasnic Commission”), which regulates compensation for victims of abuse from church institutions.

Haller is a member of the governing body ( Brotherhood Council ) of the Brotherhood of St. Christoph am Arlberg , which supports families and people in need through no fault of their own. Haller is also involved in several charities, including as chairman of the association for the Batschuns Education Center .

Sensational reports

Opinion on Jack Unterweger

In 1994 Haller was appointed psychiatric expert in the jury trial against Jack Unterweger , the first major European trial against an alleged sexual serial killer. Unterweger initially categorically refused psychiatric examinations. In the course of the process, he finally agreed to be questioned by Haller.

Haller noted that Unterweger did not suffer from any mental illness, but did suffer from the syndrome of malignant narcissism. This disorder, first described by the Austro-American psychoanalyst Otto Kernberg (1985, 1996), consisting of narcissistic personality disorder , antisocial behavior, self-syntonic aggression and sadism as well as a pronounced paranoid attitude, was found in numerous mass and serial murderers.

Unterweger, who had been sentenced to life imprisonment in 1976 for a sadistic sex murder and had worked his way up to become a writer in prison , was released early in 1990 as the Austrian rehabilitation case par excellence. According to the court ruling, he then killed 11 prostitutes in Europe and the United States within a year and a half, but never pleaded guilty. During the psychiatric examination, Haller was able to demonstrate numerous elements of malignant narcissism and a developmental and life-history constellation typical of serial offenders.

Expert opinion on "Bomb Brain" Franz Fuchs

The criminologically and psychiatrically sensational political assassin Franz Fuchs refused a psychiatric assessment for a long time. Haller finally managed to get into conversation with him.

From December 1993 to December 1996, Fuchs initiated six series of letter bombs in Austria and Germany and carried out three bomb attacks, which resulted in a total of 35 injuries and 4 deaths. At the time, a group called the BBA ("Bavarian Liberation Army") wrote numerous letters about the attacks, which were all directed against people and institutions involved in foreigner issues. The allegedly threatened foreign infiltration of Austria and the danger of the decline of the German-speaking ethnic group were cited as motives for the crimes.

Fuchs ran into a police traffic control by accident, felt caught, fled his car and tried to kill himself by detonating a pipe bomb he was carrying. He lost both hands and injured the police officers who were chasing him. In the preliminary proceedings he showed himself to be very cooperative, disclosed a wealth of (self-accusing) insider knowledge, described himself as a member of the BBA, but left it open until the very end whether he had acted as an individual perpetrator or in association with other people. He consistently evaded participation in the jury trial by constantly shouting xenophobic slogans, which regularly resulted in exclusion from the meetings. The court, which assumed a lone perpetrator, sentenced him to life imprisonment and sent him to an institution for (sane) mentally abnormal lawbreakers. Despite the amputation of both forearms and the lack of prosthetic fittings, he managed to hang himself in an intensely monitored cell.

Haller diagnosed a combined personality disorder with schizoid, paranoid, fanatical and narcissistic components in his report. The extremely intelligent ( IQ  149) man, lonely already as a child, had withdrawn completely after numerous professional and private disappointments and directed his entire life towards the initially fanatical, later delusional idea of ​​having to protect Austria from the threat of foreign infiltration. He developed a paranoia that could psychodynamically also be interpreted as self-punishment, which ultimately led to his arrest.

In several later publications, Haller pointed out the astonishing similarity to the case of the "Unabomber" Theodore Kaczynski . He described the bomb attacks as a unique case in criminal history, in which all roles of a crime - from the perpetrator to the investigator to the judge and executioner - are played by a single person.

Haller's role in the proceedings against Franz Fuchs was reflected in the one-person play Der Patriot by playwright Felix Mitterer and in the award-winning film documentary Franz Fuchs - a Patriot by Elisabeth Scharang .

Controversial expert opinion

Haller always pointed out the major expert problems in assessing Nazi perpetrators, as this is where the expert comes under enormous public pressure.

Expert opinion on Nazi euthanasia doctor Heinrich Gross

After numerous experts refused to accept the assessment of the Austrian euthanasia doctor Heinrich Gross , Haller took over the report. He said yes in a first report (file number 23 b Vr 12100/97, Regional Court Vienna Criminal ) whose sanity and hearing ability. This made all investigations possible for the first time.

In a new examination shortly before the trial in March 2000, Haller pointed out Gross' vascular dementia that had occurred in the meantime. As a result of this opinion, the proceedings against Heinrich Gross were not resumed in 2000. Two experts expressed concerns about Haller's methods and findings: the psychiatrist and court expert Peter Stastny and the psychologist and expert Klaus Burtscher, who, however, was subject to an injunction and had to publicly revoke the main allegations against Haller. Stastny stated on the report:

“I cannot explain the circumstances under which the psychiatric report was made and - above all - why it was accepted as conclusive by the court. […] Conclusions are drawn from the findings - both computed tomography (CT) and tests and observation - which cannot be derived from them. The diagnosis of dementia and severe depression is also based on the CT scans. [...] The second from Dr. Haller's test of cerebral insufficiency is no longer common. The concept of cerebral insufficiency is used neither clinically nor scientifically today. "

After Gross gave detailed interviews about the Second World War following the proceedings, the public discussion about the case and the reports intensified. In the subsequent civil law proceedings, however, after obtaining international reports, the courts came to the conclusion that psychological tests were merely interchangeable auxiliary findings with which neither psychiatric diagnoses nor legally relevant expert opinions could be answered and that the methods used by Haller corresponded to the state of art in forensic psychiatry corresponded.

In 2001, Volker Dittmann , professor of forensic medicine and forensic psychiatry at the University of Basel , examined Gross again. He confirmed Haller's assessment. After the accused's death in 2005, all proceedings against him were dropped in April 2006.

Expert opinion on Nazi war criminal Milivoj Ašner

2008 came Haller for his opinion on the alleged Nazi - war criminal Milivoj Asner criticism. In it he attested Asner an advanced dementia development . The psychiatric reports by court experts Peter Hofmann (Graz) and Max Neumann (Klagenfurt) also confirmed severe dementia. The health of the over ninety-year-old was up for debate because his ability to be questioned had to be checked because of an extradition application from Croatia. The psychiatric reports by Haller and Hofmann both came to the conclusion that they were not able to be questioned.

The British newspaper “ The Sun ” and the chairman of the Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Austria , Ariel Muzicant , described these reports as unbelievable: Ašner had been photographed taking long walks, looking very vigorous and without a stick. He was also photographed on the sidelines of a fan party for the 2008 European Football Championship in Klagenfurt. In fact, an expert confirmed that Ašner, who was being looked after, was often taken there for lunch.

In an interview with the ORF Report 2008, Ašner presented himself without any recognizable thought and memory disorders (diagnostic criteria dementia ). Critics saw further evidence of the alleged negligence of the Austrian judiciary in the prosecution of Nazi war crimes. The public prosecutor's office also started investigations against Ašner.

The Austrian judiciary then tried to counter the impression of bias by commissioning foreign experts. The public prosecutor's office appointed a Swiss expert to reassess Ašner. This canceled the order. In 2009, the head of the forensic psychiatry department at the Munich Clinic, Norbert Nedopil , examined Haller's assessment in a senior report. In it he confirmed Haller's report.

Haller's opinion on Milivoj Ašner was included in the US State Department's Human Rights Report Austria 2008: Section 4: Government position on international investigations into alleged human rights violations.

Crime analysis

Haller's psychiatric diagnoses are in demand in the press, often as "remote diagnosis". He stated several times that it is always difficult to make a diagnosis without a personal examination. The “language of crime”, however, allows certain conclusions to be drawn about the motives and actions of the perpetrators.

According to his assessment, Anders Behring Breivik is suffering from a pathological delusion. He considers the first opinion of the Norwegian court to be wrong because it did not distinguish between madness and schizophrenia.

He also considers the second opinion of the Norwegian court to be wrong: He could not understand the reverse conclusion that Breivik must be fully guilty if he is not schizophrenic. According to jurisprudence, someone is guilty if they are not intoxicated, insane, or delusional. Haller emphasizes the difficulty of establishing the latter. According to Haller, delusion is more dangerous than schizophrenia: Those who live in delusions do not attract attention because they appear normal in everyday life. All great assassins suffered from a delusion.

Lawsuits against Haller

As of 2005, Haller was sued by the Association of Court Appraisers Damaged (GGGV) from Salzburg for allegedly improper reports and attacked publicly. After several proceedings in which international experts confirmed the accuracy of Haller's reports, all claims against him were dismissed and he won all of the trials.

Lectures

The Aargauer Zeitung wrote about him: "" Grand Councilor Marianne Binder was fascinated by a didactic piece by Haller, "How to give a speech and grab and tie people for an hour" (...) Council of States Christine Egerszegi had a similar experience . For her it will be unforgettable how one can inspire with the free word. (...) Publicist Roy Oppenheim was amazed at Haller's top performance, a mixture of prepared, internalized and spontaneous. "

Fonts

as an author
  • The miracle of appreciation: how we make others strong and thereby become stronger ourselves , Gräfe and Unzer, Munich 2019, ISBN 978-3-8338-6744-6
  • Evil: The Psychology of Human Destructiveness , Ecowin at Benevento Publishing, Elsbethen near Salzburg 2019, ISBN 978-3-7110-0248-8
  • The power of hurt . Ecowin, Wals near Salzburg 2015, ISBN 978-3-7110-0078-1
  • The Narcissism Trap: Instructions for Knowledge of People and Self . Ecowin, Salzburg 2013
  • The normal evil . Ecowin Verlag, Salzburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-902404-80-0
  • The psychiatric report . 2nd edition Manz, Vienna 2008, ISBN 978-3-214-06930-8 (series law of medicine; 2)
  • (Un) happiness of addiction. how to overcome their addiction . Ecowin Verlag, Salzburg 2007, ISBN 978-3-902404-48-0
  • The criminal's soul. Motives, impulses, images of life . 3rd edition Residenz-Verlag, St. Pölten 2006, ISBN 3-7017-3037-7
  • Suicide. Desperate for life? Hannibal-Verlag, Vienna 1987, ISBN 3-85445-030-3 (together with Albert Lingg )
  • Handbook of forensic medicine . Ed .: Madea Brinkmann. Springer, 2003
  • Alcoholism - Abuse and Addiction. Ed .: Soyka / Küfner. Thieme, 2008
  • The medical report . Ed .: Diemath et al. Doctors' publishing house, 2008
  • Alcohol and tobacco, basics of secondary diseases . Ed .: Singer / Barta and Mann. Thieme, 2010
  • Forensic psychiatry. Ed .: Nedopil / Müller. Thieme, 2012
  • Compendium - Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, Psychosomatic Medicine. Ed .: Freyberger et al. Huber, 2012
  • The psychiatric report. Manz, 2008, 2nd edition
as editor
  • Drugs, addiction, crime . Forum-Verlag Godesberg, Mönchengladbach 2009, ISBN 978-3-936999-63-1 (New series of criminological publications; 111)

Awards

Web links

Commons : Reinhard Haller  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

References and comments

  1. ^ Philosophicum Lech: Short biography of Reinhard Haller
  2. ^ Function of the Maria Ebene Foundation . Website Maria Ebene Foundation, viewed August 20, 2014.
  3. ↑ Therapy concept of the Maria Ebene Foundation Archived copy ( memento of the original dated February 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed on February 24, 2015) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.mariaebene.at
  4. ↑ http://www.opfer-schutz.at/kommission/haller.html
  5. ^ State of Vorarlberg Drugs Commissioner . ( Memento of the original from August 12, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.vorarlberg.at
  6. ↑ 2015 program: University course on addiction counseling and prevention , viewed August 20, 2014
  7. ↑ Österreichische Ärztezeitung from April 10, 2014
  8. ↑ https://www.academia-superior.at/die-menschen-dahinter#wissenschaftlicher_beirat
  9. ↑ Independent Victim Protection Commission
  10. ^ Batschuns Education Center
  11. ↑ a b 20th anniversary: ​​Jack Unterweger's mysterious end. In: DiePresse.com. June 25, 2014, accessed January 20, 2018 .
  12. ↑ "Evil begins when a person does not feel into others". Reinhard Haller in conversation with Ulrike Timm in Deutschlandradio Kultur on April 2, 2012, accessed on April 3, 2012.
  13. ↑ a b Felix Mitterer: "Everything was the same as elsewhere". In: derStandard.at. July 16, 2014, accessed December 11, 2017 .
  14. ↑ http://www.falter.at/falter/2015/02/03/was-von-oberwart-bleibt/
  15. ↑ http://www.vorarlbergernachrichten.at/politik/2015/02/04/ein-mahnmal-gegen-fremdenhass.vn
  16. ↑ The starry night of murder in Oberwart 1995. In: DiePresse.com. January 30, 2015, accessed January 21, 2018 .
  17. ↑ Suicides of prominent inmates. In: derStandard.at. February 24, 2015, accessed December 11, 2017 .
  18. ^ The attacks by Franz Fuchs - 25 letter bombs, two pipe bombs , tt.com of February 4, 2015
  19. ↑ http://www.nachrichten.at/nachrichten/weltspiegel/Reinhard-Haller-Selbstgerechte-Querulanten;art17,677122
  20. ^ "Talk in the Hangar", Servus TV, from May 11, 2012
  21. ^ Klaus Burtscher: Revocation. In: The furrow . March 6, 2014, accessed April 15, 2020 .
  22. ↑ Large process: gross weaknesses. The New York psychiatrist and court expert Peter Stastny on the start of the major trial. In: Profile , quoted in: Biceps.
  23. ↑ Expert conflict continues. '' on orf.at , April 11, 2012. Viewed on June 12, 2013.
  24. ^ DiePresse.com : Justice: Doubts about major reports . Article dated August 9, 2010.
  25. ↑ "Der Standard" from December 4, 2002 [1]
  26. ↑ Answer from Justice Minister Karin Miklautsch [2]
  27. ↑ "Process Description" Viewed on July 30, 2014
  28. ^ ORF: Milivoj Ašner: Public prosecutor determined
  29. ↑ Public prosecutor's office has health status checked. Kleine Zeitung June 18, 2008
  30. ↑ Die Presse: Muzicant: National Socialism: Austria could extradite Ašner [3]
  31. ^ Online edition of The Sun , http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article1294928.ece , and The Times , http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news /world/europe/article4149834.ece ; also the online editions of Die Zeit Archived Copy ( memento of the original from August 8, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. and Der Standard http://derstandard.at/?url=/?id=3378784 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.zeit.de
  32. ↑ OE24: Ex-Nazi Ašner should come before the judge [4]
  33. ↑ ORF: Asner shows himself to be confident - ( Memento of the original from June 22, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / orf.at
  34. ↑ "In response to Croatian appeals, the prosecutor's office appointed a Swiss expert to reexamine Asner. The expert reportedly declined the appointment, and the court subsequently requested examination by a German expert." http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2008/eur/119067.htm
  35. ↑ "The Press: Who Was Milivoj Asner" Seen on July 30, 2014.
  36. ↑ US State Department, Human Rights Report Austria 2008, Section 4 [5]
  37. ↑ LiveChat with the profiler Reinhard Haller ( Memento of the original from August 26, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , News.at , October 20, 2011 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.news.at
  38. ^ "The forensic-psychiatric significance of the Breivik case", lecture at the Munich Forensic-Psychiatric Autumn Conference 2012 ".
  39. ^ Brigitte Hürlimann: Met in Zurich: Reinhard Haller - Amok researcher , online edition of the Neue Zürcher Zeitung , September 11, 2012
  40. ↑ a b Is Anders Breivik angry or insane? On Focus Online April 17, 2012, accessed February 26, 2015
  41. ↑ ORF.at: Public prosecutor's office determined against Haller Sight on July 30, 2014.
  42. ^ Forensic psychiatrist Haller: "Public execution". In: DiePresse.com. August 10, 2010, accessed January 25, 2018 .
  43. ↑ "ORF.at: Complaints against Haller rejected" Viewed on July 30, 2014.
  44. ^ "ORF Vorarlberg: Haller's report almost completely confirmed" Viewed on July 30, 2014.
  45. ^ "Revocation - because of the accusation of outdated expert opinion tests to celebrity psychiatrist Reinhard Haller", die Furche 10, March 6, 2014, front page.
  46. ↑ “Narcissism is a question of the right amount”, Aargauer Zeitung AZ of January 14, 2014.
  47. ↑ Review: Insults and the desire for revenge
  48. ↑ according to BGBl 2002/261
  49. ↑ Dr. Toni Russ Prize for Reinhard Haller . ORF Vorarlberg, September 2, 2010.
  50. ^ Wallner presented Reinhard Haller with the state's silver medal . Vorarlberger Landes-Korrespondenz dated November 4, 2017.
personal data
SURNAME Haller, Reinhard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian specialist in psychiatry and neurology
DATE OF BIRTH September 25, 1951
PLACE OF BIRTH Mellau , Bregenz Forest