What branch of psychiatry is primarily concerned with legal issues and criminal infractions?

Forensic psychiatry is the branch of psychiatry that specifically addresses the intersection of mental health and legal matters. It involves the assessment of individuals involved in the legal system, including defendants and victims, and provides expertise in determining competency to stand trial, understanding mental state at the time of an offense, and evaluating risk for future criminal behavior.

This specialty often engages in providing expert testimony in courts, conducting evaluations for legal cases, and working with law enforcement and correctional facilities. The focus on legal issues differentiates forensic psychiatry from other branches such as clinical psychiatry, which deals with general mental health disorders without the legal context, adolescent psychiatry, focused specifically on the mental health of adolescents, and neuropsychiatry, which emphasizes the relationship between neurological conditions and psychiatric symptoms. Thus, the emphasis on legal aspects and criminal behavior establishes forensic psychiatry as the correct answer in this context.