Principles and Practice of Forensic Psychiatry, 2Ed - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0340806648 ISBN 13: 9780340806647

Publisher: CRC Press, 2003

Synopsis

The second edition of this award-winning textbook has been thoroughly revised and updated throughout. Building on the success of the first edition, the book continues to address the History and Practice of Forensic Psychiatry, Legal Regulation of the Practice of Psychiatry, Psychiatry in relation to Civil Law, Criminal Law, and Family Law. Important sections such as Special Issues in Forensic Psychiatry, Law and the Legal System, and Landmark Cases in Mental Health Law are included. Designed to meet the needs of practitioners of forensic psychiatry, for residents in forensic psychiatry, and those preparing for the specialty examination in Forensic Psychiatry of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, this volume will also answer the many questions faced by mental health professionals, mental health administrators, correctional health professionals and correctional health administrators, attorneys, judges, probation and parole officers and administrators all of whom, at one time or another, require a substantive presentation of the entire field of forensic psychiatry in the USA.

About this title

About the Author

Richard Rosner, MD is Clinical Professor, Department of Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine; Director, Forensic Psychiatry Residency, New York University Medicine Center; and Medical Director, Forensic Psychiatry Clinic, Bellevue Hospital Center, New York, USA.

Reviews

What started off as a project under the auspices of the Tri-State Chapter of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, in the mid-1970s, has blossomed into Principles and Practice of Forensic Psychiatry. Now in its second edition, and still under the editorial guidance of Richard Rosner, this book continues to be the standard reference textbook in the field. Over the years, the scope of forensic psychiatry has widened, and a major strength of this book is that it succinctly covers the major subspecialties of forensic practice, including civil law, family and domestic relations, correctional psychiatry, and the evaluation and treatment of criminals. Such varied topics as malingering, psychiatric abuse, and head injury are clustered in 26 chapters in a section entitled "Special Clinical Issues in Forensic Psychiatry." A particular strength is the detailed examination of ethical guidelines, liability issues, confidentiality, the duty to protect, and sexual misconduct in therapist-patient relationships. Despite the large number of contributors, the writing is consistently good. This book is not just theoretical but, rather, is interspersed with many practical gems. Chapters on writing forensic reports, preparing courtroom testimony, addressing violations of treatment boundaries, and doing legal research online are some of the many examples of its practical applications. My criticisms are minor. If the book is read through Canadian eyes, its focus is American, not North American. Although interesting, all the landmark cases cited are from U.S. courts. A brief examination of important Canadian and British cases (other than the historic M'Naghten case, involving political assassination during the reign of Queen Victoria) would have rounded out this book. However, it still remains valuable to forensic practitioners outside the United States. Another criticism is that despite the introductory statement that every chapter in this second edition is "an updated, revised and expanded version of what appeared in the original edition," the chapter entitled "Terrorism and Forensic Psychiatry" is essentially unchanged. This is disappointing, because there have been many open source articles on the psychology of terrorism since the attacks of September 11, 2001. The authors repeat their preachy message about forensic psychiatrists in law enforcement while failing to recognize that many practitioners who are employed in operational policing and in the fields of counterterrorism and intelligence are not gun-loving "wannabes" and can continue to follow the oath of Hippocrates. These minor criticisms aside, this book remains the gold standard and is an important reference work in forensic psychiatry. It is well written and well presented and is a must both for experienced forensic psychiatrists and psychologists and for those in training; it is also invaluable for forensic social workers, forensic nurses, lawyers, and the judiciary. Peter I. Collins, M.D.
Copyright © 2004 Massachusetts Medical Society. All rights reserved. The New England Journal of Medicine is a registered trademark of the MMS.

Edition details

• Publisher: CRC Press
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0340806648
• ISBN 13: 9780340806647
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 928
• Editor: Rosner Richard