Description
Book SynopsisExplores how societal beliefs about free will and moral responsibility have shaped policies and identifies the differences among the goals, ethos, and actions of the legal and health care systems. This book provides a critical analysis of topics, including legal standards for competency, insanity versus mental illness, and sex offenders.
Trade Review"A provocative, challenging, and thoughtful multi-disciplinary investigation of one of the most serious social issues we face. This is a major contribution to the literature." -- Michael Perlin * New York Law School *
"This book is informative and, with its reference to specific cases, more interesting than it might otherwise be. Recommended." * Choice *
Table of ContentsPreface
Acknowledgements
1 The Social Construction of Mental Illness as a Criminal Justice Problem
2 Systems of Social Control: From Asylums to Prisons
3 Competency to Stand Trial and Competency to Be Executed
4 The Problems with the Insanity Defense: The COnflict between Law and Psychiatry
5 The "Mad" or "Bad" Debate Concerning Sex Offenders
6 Juvenile Offenders, Developmental Competency, and Mental Illness
7 Criminalizing Mental Illness: Does It Matter?
References
Index
