Crime et châtiment de Dostoïevski : une lecture comportementale du double homicide de Raskolnikov

This medico-literary study analyzes the behavior of the modus operandi of Raskolnikov's double homicide based solely on Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel Crime and Punishment. The following themes are discussed: the selection of the chapters of the novel that provide useful information; Raskolnikov's mental state according to the modern American diagnostic classification; the motives for his criminal action; how he organized the double homicide, from its psychological and material preparation to its perpetration; crime as a means of confessing guilt (crime by self-punishment); various literary and psychiatric opinions on Raskolnikov and his crime. The analysis of all this information shows this double homicide to have been clearly prepared, planned and executed (high operational component). Despite the mental disorders he suffered from, Raskolnikov technically succeeded, although he did not derive any material or psychological benefit from his crime. He turned out to be a good assassin but an inept thief, his strong sense of guilt leading him to make mistake after mistake until his arrest.