Current Research and Scholarly Interests
Dr. Steiner's predominant interest is the application of Humanistic principles to the practice of Medicine and Psychiatry.
Dr Steiner is the director and a founding member of the PEGASUS PHYSICIAN WRITERS at Stanford, a working group of over 100 Stanford physicians who also write creatively. The group meets monthly and dscusses writing proposals, poetry, novels and trade books in progress. Most members of the group have an extensive publication record. The group is open to physicians who write creatively, including medical students, trainees and undergraduates exploring medicine as a career. We ask prospective members to send a current CV and writing sample. They also should indicate which specific project they are currently working on. The group can be reached by e mailing Dr. Steiner at Stanford or via his private website at: www.hanssteiner.com.
Dr. Steiner directs Stanford's Program in Psychiatry & The Law. He is an expert in Forensic Psychiatry, aiming to bring Medicine to crime and criminals, as well as their victims and their families. He is particularly interested in freedom of will, culpability and its relationship to psychopathology.
Dr. Steiner's empirical research is based on developmental approaches to psychopathology which emphasize the conjoint study of normative and non-normative phenomena, and the complex interaction of biological, psychological and social variables in the etiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders.He has published extensively on the details of this model and has applied it to the study of normal and abnormal aggression, responses to stress and traumatic events, and the mental processes helping people adjust to adversity across the life span.