Care of the Mentally Disordered Offender in the Community

The thoroughly revised second edition of Care of the Mentally Disordered Offender in the Community is a comprehensive, evidence-based guide to the latest developments in the social context, management, and treatment of offenders in mental health care. In recent years there has been significant changes in the public perception of crime and the mentally ill offender, enhanced by research into causal links between violence and mental illness, and the increased publicity of the risk mentally disordered offenders could pose to the community. These, and other various factors, have significantly increased service development and research into psychological and pharmacological treatments and the rate of re-offending. Over three sections this essential guide explores key topics for discussion in the field. Part One critically examines the social, administrative and clinical context within which care is given in the modern day. Part Two discusses treatment and the evaluation of risk when determining the most appropriate treatment, whilst Part Three explores psychiatric services and their relationship with other agencies. Fully updated to ensure new areas for discussion are included, this book includes new chapters on relevant debates in the field such as US provision for the mentally disordered leaving prison, community management of sexual offending, the relationships between care and coercion, and the treatment of personality disorders. Written and edited by a global team of experts in the field, this book provides readers with useful insight into the social, clinical, and institutional contexts of this complex and relevant issue.