Mental Health Homicide and Society

A homicide committed by a mentally disordered person who is under the care of health service professionals is a shocking event. Otherwise known as a 'patient homicide', these incidents are followed by an investigation into the care and treatment received by the perpetrator. These investigations are often regarded as a way to 'learn lessons', establish accountability and provide catharsis to families and the public. The book argues however that patient homicide events and the circumstances in which they occur are communicated about within closed systems of life (eg law, medicine). These systems operate according to unique internal logics. The communications produced by these systems, nevertheless, resonate in society and enable a diverse and complex space of governance to emerge - a space of governance in which universal understandings about patient homicides, health care, public safety and risk are unachievable.

The Scottish Government initiated reform of their patient homicide investigation procedures in 2017 and plans to reform patient homicide investigations in England are slowly germinating. This original and compelling book is therefore a timely and important contribution. It concludes that health policy makers should re-evaluate their normative commitments to patient homicide risk reduction in a world of disharmony, objection and resistance.

Autorentext

David P Horton is Lecturer in Law at the University of Liverpool.

Inhalt

1. Homicide and Health Care: Context and Complexity
   I. Introduction
   II. Patient Homicide and Health Care
   III. Background and Context
   IV. Thinking About Complexity
   V. Central Questions and Themes
   VI. Conclusions
   
   2. The Investigatory Domain
      I. Introduction
      II. The Inquiry
      III. The Inquiry Industry
      IV. Conclusions
   3. Social Systems
      I. Introduction
      II. Theoretical Background
      III. Conclusions
   4. The Patient Homicide Governance Space
      I. Introduction
      II. Legal Realities
      III. Political Realities
      IV. Scientific Realities
      V. Medical Realities
      VI. Economic Realities
      VII. Moral Realities
      VIII. Mass Media Realities
      IX. The Implications of Social Autopoiesis
      X. Conclusions
   5. Accountability and Time
      I. Introduction
      II. Accountability as Communication
      III. The Concept of Time
      IV. Accountability and Time
      V. Conclusions
   6. Risk and Protest
      I. Introduction
      II. The Concept of Risk
      III. Protest and Politics
      IV. Conclusions