Forensic Psychiatry

The nexus between the digital revolution and adolescent sexual behavior has posed significant challenges to mental health practitioners, attorneys, and educators. These digital technologies may facilitate dangerous behaviors and serious consequences for some youth. This online resource considers adolescent sexual behavior in both clinical and legal contexts and provides a basis for clinicians, legal professionals, educators, policy makers, parents and the general public to understand the impact that technology has on human growth and development. It fosters an interdisciplinary dialogue within the text, and subjects covered include "sexting," social networking, cyber-sexual harassment, commercial exploitation of children, and child pornography. Less

This book examines the care of the mentally disordered offender in the community from a number of perspectives: the social, administrative, and clinical context; clinical aspects of care; and the relationships between psychiatric services for mentally disordered offenders and other agencies. It incorporates recent developments in treatment and policy, including an international analysis of the use of community treatment orders, which remain controversial and divide opinion. In the United States, efforts to improve treatment have focussed on improving continuity of care between prison and the community, and the book examines US jail and prison policy. Current UK health policy as applied to the mentally disordered offender is explained. Risk and risk thinking is a theme that runs through the book and is considered in terms of its effect on society, its influence on policy, and in terms of how risk assessment is applied in everyday clinical practice. Developments in psychodynamic psychotherapy and cognitive treatments for mentally disordered offenders are discussed, including consideration of the risk-need-responsivity model, which has become increasingly influential. The treatment of sex offenders and personality disorder offenders is considered specifically, as is pharmacological therapy. Most mentally disordered offenders are managed in the community by the Community Mental Health Team (CMHT). The role of the CMHT and its interface with specialist community forensic teams is considered, as is the interaction between mental health services and other agencies and the legal context within which they operate.Less

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) is the most widely used and accepted scheme for diagnosing mental disorders in the United States and beyond. DSM-5 was released with profound changes revealed in the required diagnostic process, specific criteria for previously established diagnoses, as well as the addition and deletion of specific mental disorders. This resource provides an excellent summary of the DSM-5 diagnostic changes and the implications of these changes in various types of criminal and civil litigation. It also provides practical guidelines on how to correctly use the DSM-5 diagnostic process to record diagnoses in a forensic report. Furthermore, this title highlights unique aspects of the assessment of malingering based on DSM-5 alterations of DSM-IV. Less

This online title is a fascinating mix of historical beginnings, current developments, representative subspecialties of psychiatry, and several allied disciplines and their impact on forensic psychiatry. Furthermore, it also includes neuro-scientific research and how it translates to civic and criminal case work. Judges, attorneys, law professors and a police scientist all weigh in on the influence of the interdisciplinary research these forensic scientists have had on the justice system. Featuring case examples and research conducted by the professionals who have had the greatest influence on the growth of the field of forensic psychiatry, they lead the discussion on the various aspects and issues of the discipline's impact on the criminal justice system.Less

This resource presents a penetrating and thought provoking analysis of the forensic mental health system - how it operates, the people involved, the problems inherent in such a system, and the huge ethical dilemma of depriving an individual of their freedom. It brings together a range of specialists, each with considerable experience, who describe the processes involved in dealing with an MDO - from their own unique perspective.Less

This resource fills a major gap in the literature, and provides a practical reference text for clinical and forensic psychologists and psychiatrists who are working in these important areas of forensic consultancy, and who need a working knowledge of neuropsychological assessment and legal processes. Topics include: aggression and violence, learning disability and developmental disorders - such as autism and ADHD, eplilepsy, amnesia, alcohol and substance misuse, and traumatic head injury. In addition, it also looks at expert testimony, malingering, and other ethical and professional issues.Less

Forensic Psychiatry is an essential interdisciplinary resource that is ideal for all trainees in psychiatry, clinical and forensic psychology and other forensic mental health disciplines as well as for those professionals who work with psychiatrists in a legal setting, particularly members of the legal profession, probation and the police.Less

Geriatric Forensic Psychiatry: Principles and Practice is one of the first texts to provide a comprehensive review of important topics in the intersection of geriatric psychiatry, medicine, clinical neuroscience, forensic psychiatry, and law. It will speak to a broad audience among varied fields, including clinical and forensic psychiatry and mental health professionals, geriatricians and internists, attorneys and courts, regulators, and other professionals working with the older population. Topics addressed in this text, applied to the geriatric population, include clinical forensic evaluation, regulations and laws, civil commitment, different forms of capacity, guardianship, patient rights, medical-legal issues related to treatment, long term care and telemedicine, risk management, patient safety and error reduction, elder driving, sociopathy and aggression, offenders and the adjudication process, criminal evaluations, corrections, ethics, culture, cognitive impairment, substance abuse, trauma, older professionals, high risk behavior, and forensic mental health training and research. Understanding the relationship between clinical issues, laws and regulations, and managing risk and improving safety, will help to serve the growing older population.Less

This online resource brings together concise, comprehensive summaries of the most important ‘landmark’ legal decisions relating to mental health practice in the United States. These decisions, along with their underlying reasonings, make up a critical portion of the national certification examination for forensic psychiatry offered by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN). Many of the themes are also tested in the ABPN certification examination for general psychiatry. This resource is the first to provide a combination of summaries of the relevant legal content paired with board-style test questions designed to help consolidate knowledge and prepare for certification. Cases with similar themes are grouped together with an eye toward helping the reader understand the evolution of legal and clinical thinking on a particular topic. Less

Managing Personality Disordered Offenders: A Pathways Approach describes the development and implementation of the Offender Personality Disorder (OPD) strategy in the UK. It begins by reviewing the existing evidence base for interventions for personality disordered offenders in the UK and elsewhere, before outlining the principles and requirements of the strategy and how it has been implemented in the community and secure settings in London and south-east England by the London Pathways Partnership (LPP). The LPP is a consortium of four mental health trusts working together with the probation and prison services to deliver community and secure OPD services: individual chapters, written by leaders within the LPP and wider OPD pathway, address key aspects, including staff selection and training; case identification and formulation; intervening in the community and in secure settings; service user involvement; and commissioning and joint working. Each chapter includes an authoritative review of the relevant evidence base, together with consideration of available options and the rational for the approach chosen for services in London. This is followed by a practical ‘how to do it’ guide and review of what has worked and what has not during the first four years of service delivery. Each chapter includes a section on evaluation and proposals regarding possible ‘next steps’. The book concludes with a formulation-based analysis of whether or not the OPD strategy has had any impact on its stated outcomes and how these might be re-evaluated as the mechanisms by which change is achieved in the pathway become better understood.Less

The book examines medical treatment under coercion and its justifications. Psychiatry springs to mind as most associated with coercion. Here, the fundamental criteria governing detention and involuntary treatment have remained fundamentally unchanged for over two centuries—first, the person has a ‘mental disorder’, largely undefined; and second, there is a risk of significant harm to the person or to others. Major problems attach to these criteria allowing a large degree of arbitrariness in the use of compulsion. Furthermore, when set against the huge shift over the past 50 years from ‘paternalism’ to patient ‘autonomy’ in general medicine, it becomes clear that conventional mental health law discriminates against people with ‘mental disorders’. Involuntary treatment is governed by entirely different principles. Patient ‘autonomy’ is not accorded the same respect in mental health care, while the ‘protection of others’ justification, based on ‘risk’ not offences, constitutes a discriminatory form of preventive detention reserved for people with ‘mental disorders’. A solution is proposed—a generic law, applicable across all medical specialties and settings. This ‘Fusion Law’ draws on the strengths of both ‘capacity-based’ and civil commitment models. The relationships of ‘capacity’ and ‘best interests’ to a person’s ‘beliefs and values’ (or ‘will and preferences’) are elucidated in order to examine the ‘Fusion Law’ against the standards set by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. ‘Coercion’ short of compulsion is then considered, as are the implications of the ‘Fusion Law’ for the forensic domain, general hospital practice, involuntary outpatient treatment, and ‘advance directives’.Less

Mental health professionals, more than any other clinicians, encounter legal issues on a regular basis. Mental Health Practice and the Law is written for anyone in the field, at any stage in their training or practice, who has ever found themselves scratching their head in confusion or dreading that they will expose themselves to liability as they navigate the complexities at the interface of law and mental health. Written by established experts and the rising stars of the next generation, the sixteen chapters in this book offer readers a basic understanding of legal principles encountered in clinical practice, as well as practical advice on how to manage situations at the interface of law and clinical practice. Using case examples and clear language, this book will help clinicians understand the underlying principles behind the legal requirements of clinical care. It aims to enhance the reader’s knowledge of legal issues and ability to deliver good clinical care when those issues are encountered.Less

The Oxford Textbook of Correctional Psychiatry addresses the history, structure, and processes of correctional psychiatry, including case law, human rights, ethics, organization and funding of systems, as well as stages of patient management that cover initial assessments through re-entry. It also discusses management issues, emergencies, psychopharmacology topics, sleep, detoxification, reassessment of community diagnoses and treatments, diversion programs, levels of care, malingering, substance use within facilities, and formulary management. It also covers common psychiatric disorders, relevant medical disorders, pain management, psychotherapeutic options, suicide risk management, and addictions treatment. Specific focus is given to aggression, self-injury, and other behavioral challenges, and it also reviews unique assessment and treatment needs of many distinct population groups. Special topics such as forensics, psychological testing, sexual assaults, quality improvement, training, and research are also covered, followed by a section devoted exclusively to current resources in correctional healthcare.Less

Psychiatric Expert Testimony: Emerging Applications is for practitioners who fashion expert reports and field questions during evidentiary hearings. It avoids standard applications, such as the insanity defense and specific capacity assessments, in favor of those that may be controversial or require evidentiary hearings. It covers human development and its deviations, and science and technology and each chapter discusses the science behind the testimony and, where applicable, relevant case law. It addresses the genesis of moral thinking, how early trauma can affect behavior, how to approach the child witness, and how Autism Spectrum Disorder is regarded in criminal justice, sleep disorders, fMRI lie detection, the uses of neuroimaging, traumatic encephalopathy, and designer drugs. It provides a framework for understanding why and how the justice system needs expert testimony and the instances where there is resistance to it.Less

This book uses historical, ethnographic material from England both to describe how life can be lived within a high-secure hospital setting and to address contemporary issues in secure and general healthcare. It argues that grasping social issues at ward level is key to understanding staff and patient experience and to the assessment of culture and cultural change within healthcare organizations. This will be of interest to mental health and criminal justice professionals, academics and students as well as to a wider audience interested in the care of mentally disordered offenders.Less