Will They Do it Again?

Considers the issue of risks to ordinary people particularly those posed by the mentally ill. Prins considers public protection within a broad context and, of risk in society in general.

Focus in the media on the risks posed to ordinary people has become increasingly strong in recent years - particularly on those risks popularly perceived to be posed by the mentally ill. But how justified is this concern? How do we best manage so-called dangerous people?
In Will They Do It Again? Herschel Prins considers the issue of public protection within a broad context of risk in society generally, examining the concerns arising in contemporary society from dealing with uncertainty. It is argued that public fear over the danger posed by the mentally ill is at odds with the evidence, and that much of the concern is focused on a small number of high-profile cases. Prins goes on to examine such cases where management of the mentally ill has failed and sets out suggestions for improvements in practice.
Will They Do It Again? cuts through popular misunderstanding and media hype over risk to give a clear, unbiased picture of the real risks to society from the mentally ill and how best they can be contained and managed, and will prove invaluable to a range of practitioners involved in the fields of criminal justice and psychiatry.

Autorentext

Herschel Prins is a Professor at the Midlands Centre for Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Loughborough and Visiting Professor, Nottingham Trent University.

Klappentext

How justified is concern over the perceived risks posed to society by the mentally ill? "Will They Do It Again?" considers the issue of public protection within a broad context of risk in society generally and argues that public fear over the danger posed by the mentally ill is at odds with the evidence. The author examines such cases where management of the mentally ill has failed and sets out suggestions for improvements in practice. This book presents an unbiased picture of the issue and will prove invaluable to practitioners in criminal justice and psychiatry.

Inhalt

1 Understanding uncertainty 2 Legal and administrative aspects 3 Serious mental disturbance and violence 4 With the (doubtful) benefit of hindsight 5 Improving practice 6 Epilogue