Publisher's Synopsis
Forensic psychiatry is the branch of psychiatry that deals with issues arising in the interface between psychiatry and the law, and with the flow of mentally disordered offenders along a continuum of social systems. Modern forensic psychiatry has benefited from four key developments: the evolution in the understanding and appreciation of the relationship between mental illness and criminality; the evolution of the legal tests to define legal insanity; the new methodologies for the treatment of mental conditions providing alternatives to custodial care; and the changes in attitudes and perceptions of mental illness among the public. The subspecialty of forensic psychiatry is commonly defined as "the branch of psychiatry that deals with issues arising in the interface between psychiatry and the law." This definition, however, is somewhat restrictive, in that a good portion of the work in forensic psychiatry is to help the mentally ill in trouble with the law to navigate three completely inimical social systems: mental health, justice and correctional. The definition, therefore, should be modified to read "the branch of psychiatry that deals with issues arising in the interface between psychiatry and the law, and with the flow of mentally disordered offenders along a continuum of social systems/italic--." Forensic psychiatry deals with issues at the interface of penal or criminal law as well as with matters arising in evaluations on civil law cases and in the development and application of mental health legislation. This book is an early classic in the field.
