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Mental health and criminal justice
100
Current
Publications
biochemistry, and the study of the brain can be applied to the crime problem. The book contains nine chapters. Chapter 1 treats the view of human nature found in criminal law; chapter 2 contrasts the psychological view of human nature. The issues of punishment vs. treatment and determinism vs. free will are examined. Chapter 3 contrasts the legal and medical concepts of insanity and mental illness. Chapter 4 traces the development of biological psychiatry and the use of biochemistry and neurology to explain, and establish the existence of, mental illness. The legal implications of hypoglycemia, post-traumatic stress syndrome, premenstrual syndrome, alcoholism, and episodic brain dysfunction are discussed, and new treatment methods are considered. Chapter 5 looks at the civil liabilities of parole boards, psychotherapists, and government agencies concerning the release of the mentally ill. The legal aspects of attempting to predict an offender’s future dangerousness are explored. An alternative crime prevention model based on actions taken before a crime is committed is described in chapter 6.. Chapter 7 delineates the legal aspects of a medical model of crime prevention; issues such as the right to treatment and the right to refuse treatment are addressed. The development of law on the civil liability of individuals and corporations for crimes committed by third persons is traced. Chapter 9 reflects on the future of crime control efforts and proposes a model of control based on private, rather than public, resources. An author index and a subject index complete the book.
Mental Health
and Criminal
Justice
edited
by Linda A. Teplin. Sage Pulications, Inc. (275 South Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills, California 90212), 1984, 320 pp., hardcover - $28.00, softcover - $14.00. The relationship between criminal justice and mental health has long been problem-
Abstracts
atic. It has become increasingly complex as a result of recent case law, statutory changes, and the reformulation of public policy. This book examines the interface between mental health and criminal justice from a social science perspective. Specifically, changes in commitment laws and procedures, the community mental health movement, the “psychiatrization” of the criminal, the changing character of public mental hospital patients, decreased support for mental health programs, and changes in the public’s perception of the insanity defense have all had an impact on the enactment of laws regarding mentally ill offenders. The book is organized in five sections. The first section provides background information on the laws governing mentally disordered offenders. The four chapters in part 2 examine the processing of individuals in the mental health and criminal justice system. The criminalization of the mentally ill, adolescent psychiatric hospitalization, incompetency, insanity, and involuntary civil commitment are discussed. Part 3 explores the way the police manage deinstitutionalized mentally ill individuals on the streets. The defining and managing of dangerous deviant behavior is addressed in part 4, and part 5 focuses on the conviction, incarceration, and parole of mentally disordered offenders. References are listed at the end of each chapter, and information about the contributors is provided.
Moral
Issues
Frederick berg.
in Police
A. Elliston
Work edited by and Michael Feld-
Rowman & Allanheld (81 Adams Drive, Totowa, New Jersey 07512), 1985, 308 pp., hardcover - $27.50, softcover - $13.95. Value judgments made by police officers and administrators have generated increased interest in recent years on the part of the public, police professionals, and scholars in various fields. This collection of essays by both philosophers and criminolo-
Current
Publications
biochemistry, and the study of the brain can be applied to the crime problem. The book contains nine chapters. Chapter 1 treats the view of human nature found in criminal law; chapter 2 contrasts the psychological view of human nature. The issues of punishment vs. treatment and determinism vs. free will are examined. Chapter 3 contrasts the legal and medical concepts of insanity and mental illness. Chapter 4 traces the development of biological psychiatry and the use of biochemistry and neurology to explain, and establish the existence of, mental illness. The legal implications of hypoglycemia, post-traumatic stress syndrome, premenstrual syndrome, alcoholism, and episodic brain dysfunction are discussed, and new treatment methods are considered. Chapter 5 looks at the civil liabilities of parole boards, psychotherapists, and government agencies concerning the release of the mentally ill. The legal aspects of attempting to predict an offender’s future dangerousness are explored. An alternative crime prevention model based on actions taken before a crime is committed is described in chapter 6.. Chapter 7 delineates the legal aspects of a medical model of crime prevention; issues such as the right to treatment and the right to refuse treatment are addressed. The development of law on the civil liability of individuals and corporations for crimes committed by third persons is traced. Chapter 9 reflects on the future of crime control efforts and proposes a model of control based on private, rather than public, resources. An author index and a subject index complete the book.
Mental Health
and Criminal
Justice
edited
by Linda A. Teplin. Sage Pulications, Inc. (275 South Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills, California 90212), 1984, 320 pp., hardcover - $28.00, softcover - $14.00. The relationship between criminal justice and mental health has long been problem-
Abstracts
atic. It has become increasingly complex as a result of recent case law, statutory changes, and the reformulation of public policy. This book examines the interface between mental health and criminal justice from a social science perspective. Specifically, changes in commitment laws and procedures, the community mental health movement, the “psychiatrization” of the criminal, the changing character of public mental hospital patients, decreased support for mental health programs, and changes in the public’s perception of the insanity defense have all had an impact on the enactment of laws regarding mentally ill offenders. The book is organized in five sections. The first section provides background information on the laws governing mentally disordered offenders. The four chapters in part 2 examine the processing of individuals in the mental health and criminal justice system. The criminalization of the mentally ill, adolescent psychiatric hospitalization, incompetency, insanity, and involuntary civil commitment are discussed. Part 3 explores the way the police manage deinstitutionalized mentally ill individuals on the streets. The defining and managing of dangerous deviant behavior is addressed in part 4, and part 5 focuses on the conviction, incarceration, and parole of mentally disordered offenders. References are listed at the end of each chapter, and information about the contributors is provided.
Moral
Issues
Frederick berg.
in Police
A. Elliston
Work edited by and Michael Feld-
Rowman & Allanheld (81 Adams Drive, Totowa, New Jersey 07512), 1985, 308 pp., hardcover - $27.50, softcover - $13.95. Value judgments made by police officers and administrators have generated increased interest in recent years on the part of the public, police professionals, and scholars in various fields. This collection of essays by both philosophers and criminolo-