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Mentally disordered offenders
CURRENT PUBLICATIONS ABSTRACTS
299
fenders. The criteria for classifying these four types of mentally disordered offenders are among the most controversial subjects in criminal justice today. This volume balances and juxtaposes the concerns of lawyers and social scientists about mentally disordered offenders: its contributors include a mix of lawyers, sociologists~ and psychologists. The editors' assumptions are that social science can provide a factual foundation on which to build laws regarding mentally disordered offenders and that social scientists studying such offenders are dependent upon knowledge of the law both for the definition of their subject and for the setting of substantive and procedural constraints on attempts at remedial intervention. The book developed out of a project to understand mentally disordered offenders both in their own right and in the context of larger issues in the criminal justice and mental health systems. A section is devoted to each of the four categories of mentally disordered offenders. Each section contains two chapters: one by a legal scholar and the other by a social scientist. The legal chapters address the following topics: (1) the rationale and history of the particular mentallydisordered-offender status in the law; (2) the various legal criteria or "tests" used to determine who qualifies for the status; (3) the legal procedures necessary to invoke the status (e.g.~ hearings or trials); (4) the rights of the individual mentally disordered offender while he or she has that status; (6) the legal consequences of having once had that status; and (7) the central legal issues Mentally Disordered Offenders edited by still unresolved. The social science chapters provide (1) an overview of social science John Monahan and Henry J. Steadman. approaches to the particular mentally-disPlenum Publishing Corporation (233 Spring ordered-offender status; (2) the results of a Street~ New York, New York 10013)~ 1983~ national survey on the incidence of invoca302 pp., hardcover--$29.50. tion of that status: (3) a critical review of the Each year approximately twenty thousand existing research on that status; and (4) an individuals in the United States are labelled agenda of essential social science research as mentally disordered offenders and are still to be done. A final chapter presents a compendium of either transferred from prisons to mental hospitals or institutionalized as not guilty by United States statutes on each of the four reason of insanity, as incompetent to stand categories of mentally disordered offenders. trial, or as mentally disordered sex of- An index completes the book.
are questioned. Particular importance is attached to aggravating and mitigating factors: it is proposed that the "seriousness of the crime" is not identical with the "'culpability of the offender '~ and that it is not possible to justify a particular punishment until both aggravating and mitigating factors have been considered. Wilkins probes the concepts underlying popular notions of crime by drawing attention to the difference between criminal and punishable acts. He proposes that the former may be a subset of the latter and that discussing the bases for distinguishing between the two is a complex~ yet important, endeavor in delineating appropriate approaches toward crime reduction and management. At the same time, Wilkins claims the just deserts theory of punishment is inadequate and rejects the medical, or treatment, model. In general~ this book aims "to make the problem of crime and criminals seem much more complex," in the hope of finding "better ways of managing to run an improved society." Several techniques related to the trend known as "'consumerism '~ (for example~ various types of marketing research) are proposed, in a modified form, as techniques for crime-policy analysis. Specifically considered are the ways in which marketing research underscores the basic needs represented by particular demands on the part of consumers. Consumerist Criminology contains twelve chapters, an appendix~ and an index.
299
fenders. The criteria for classifying these four types of mentally disordered offenders are among the most controversial subjects in criminal justice today. This volume balances and juxtaposes the concerns of lawyers and social scientists about mentally disordered offenders: its contributors include a mix of lawyers, sociologists~ and psychologists. The editors' assumptions are that social science can provide a factual foundation on which to build laws regarding mentally disordered offenders and that social scientists studying such offenders are dependent upon knowledge of the law both for the definition of their subject and for the setting of substantive and procedural constraints on attempts at remedial intervention. The book developed out of a project to understand mentally disordered offenders both in their own right and in the context of larger issues in the criminal justice and mental health systems. A section is devoted to each of the four categories of mentally disordered offenders. Each section contains two chapters: one by a legal scholar and the other by a social scientist. The legal chapters address the following topics: (1) the rationale and history of the particular mentallydisordered-offender status in the law; (2) the various legal criteria or "tests" used to determine who qualifies for the status; (3) the legal procedures necessary to invoke the status (e.g.~ hearings or trials); (4) the rights of the individual mentally disordered offender while he or she has that status; (6) the legal consequences of having once had that status; and (7) the central legal issues Mentally Disordered Offenders edited by still unresolved. The social science chapters provide (1) an overview of social science John Monahan and Henry J. Steadman. approaches to the particular mentally-disPlenum Publishing Corporation (233 Spring ordered-offender status; (2) the results of a Street~ New York, New York 10013)~ 1983~ national survey on the incidence of invoca302 pp., hardcover--$29.50. tion of that status: (3) a critical review of the Each year approximately twenty thousand existing research on that status; and (4) an individuals in the United States are labelled agenda of essential social science research as mentally disordered offenders and are still to be done. A final chapter presents a compendium of either transferred from prisons to mental hospitals or institutionalized as not guilty by United States statutes on each of the four reason of insanity, as incompetent to stand categories of mentally disordered offenders. trial, or as mentally disordered sex of- An index completes the book.
are questioned. Particular importance is attached to aggravating and mitigating factors: it is proposed that the "seriousness of the crime" is not identical with the "'culpability of the offender '~ and that it is not possible to justify a particular punishment until both aggravating and mitigating factors have been considered. Wilkins probes the concepts underlying popular notions of crime by drawing attention to the difference between criminal and punishable acts. He proposes that the former may be a subset of the latter and that discussing the bases for distinguishing between the two is a complex~ yet important, endeavor in delineating appropriate approaches toward crime reduction and management. At the same time, Wilkins claims the just deserts theory of punishment is inadequate and rejects the medical, or treatment, model. In general~ this book aims "to make the problem of crime and criminals seem much more complex," in the hope of finding "better ways of managing to run an improved society." Several techniques related to the trend known as "'consumerism '~ (for example~ various types of marketing research) are proposed, in a modified form, as techniques for crime-policy analysis. Specifically considered are the ways in which marketing research underscores the basic needs represented by particular demands on the part of consumers. Consumerist Criminology contains twelve chapters, an appendix~ and an index.