NCJ Number
223768
Editor(s)
Keith Soothill,
Paul Rogers,
Mairead Dolan
Date Published
2008
Length
654 pages
Annotation
This reference book on the theory and practice of forensic mental health in the United Kingdom addresses assessment, management, and treatment for persons with mental disorders involved in the criminal justice system.
Abstract
The three chapters of Part One discuss the administrative and social framework for forensic mental health in the United Kingdom. One chapter notes the lack of an overarching direction for research in forensic mental health in the United Kingdom. The second chapter emphasizes the distinctiveness of four forensic mental health systems in the United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales), with each having its own administrative and legal framework within which theory and practice evolve. The third chapter provides an overview of the origin and early development of forensic mental health in the United Kingdom. The five chapters of Part Two focus on the forensic mental health process and systems. Two chapters discuss the process and systems for juveniles and adults, respectively, followed by a chapter on the management of mentally disordered offenders under noncustodial sentences. The other two chapters address mental health services in prisons and the management of mentally disordered offenders in the course of release procedures. The 10 chapters of Part Three are concerned with key issues in the development of a knowledge base for forensic mental health. Among the issues addressed are medical models for diagnosis, risk management, legislation relevant to mentally disordered persons in the criminal justice system, and assessment and treatment of offenders with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Five of the chapters consider particular types of behaviors and offenders: aggression and violence, personality disorders, offenders with severe mental illness, substance abuse, and sex offenders with mental disorders. The four chapters of Part 4 focus on the skills needed by forensic mental health practitioners. Chapter references, a glossary, and subject index