Description
Book SynopsisWhen horrific acts of violence take place, events such as massacres in Boston, Newtown, CT, and Aurora, CO, people want answers. Who would commit such a thoughtless act of violence? What in their backgrounds could make them so inhumane, cruel, and evil? Often, people assume immediately that the perpetrator must have a mental disorder, and in some cases that does prove to be the case. But the assumption that most people with mental disorders are violent, prone to act out, and a threat to others and themselves, is clearly erroneous. Mental Disability, Violence, and Future Dangerousness thoroughly documents and explains how and why persons with mental disabilities who are perceived to be a future danger to others, the community, or themselves have become the most stigmatized, abused, and mistreated group in America, and what should be done to correct the resulting injustices. Each year state and federal governments incarcerate, deny treatment to, and otherwise deprive hundreds of thousand
Trade ReviewParry argues that US state and federal governments incarcerate, deny treatment to, and otherwise deprive hundreds of thousands of Americans with mental disabilities of their fundamental rights based on unreliable and misleading predictions that they are likely to be dangerous in the future. He decries the lack of attention to the situation and proposes ways in which these injustices can be identified and remedied. * Law & Social Inquiry *
Individuals with severe mental illness are greatly over-represented in the U.S. criminal justice system, and the need for policymakers to address this growing problem is paramount. In Mental Disability, Violence and Future Dangerousness: Myths Behind the Presumption of Guilt, Parry provides a multidisciplinary analysis of the laws and mental health policies that affect individuals with mental illness. As one of the foremost authorities on mental disability law, Parry provides comprehensive coverage of the relevant laws and social science research, and he offers his characteristically insightful and detailed analysis. This book will surely prove indispensable to legal professionals, mental health practitioners, and policymakers, and it should serve as a blueprint for change. -- David DeMatteo, JD, PhD, director, JD/PhD Program in Law & Psychology, associate professor of Psychology & Law, Drexel University
This is an elegant, tightly-reasoned, provocative re-examination of the misleading ways that predictions of future dangerousness and biased ‘expert testimony’ have poisoned the criminal justice system. It exposes the reasons that undermine the fundamental fairness of what our system should be. It is the most important book to tackle these issues in years. -- Michael L. Perlin, New York Law School
Mental Disability, Violence and Future Dangerousness: Myths Behind the Presumption of Guilt is a passionate and articulate indictment of how America cares for its citizens who have serious mental disorders. John Weston Parry meticulously chronicles the serial debacles produced by decades of fear-driven mental health policy-making. Some will disagree with the boldness of Parry’s remedial proposals, but all will benefit from engaging in the crucial conversations that this important book will unleash. -- John Monahan, Shannon Distinguished Professor of Law, Psychology, and Psychiatry, University of Virginia
John Parry's new book is an ambitious and successful effort to integrate civil and criminal mental disability law. His review of the cases decided over the last four decades offers a valuable perspective on the case law, and is thoroughly grounded with a sensitivity to the realities of life for individuals who have (or are said to have) mental disabilities. -- James W. Ellis, Distinguished University Professor and Professor of Law, University of New Mexico
Table of ContentsPreface Introduction 1: Persons with Mental Disabilities and the American Legal System: A History of Discrimination, Abuse and Mistreatment 2: Sanism and America’s Exaggerated Fear of Violence 3: Sanist Words and Language in the American Legal System: “Dangerousness,” “The Right to Treatment” and “Civil” Versus “Criminal” 4: Predictions of Dangerousness in the Courtroom: Unreliable, Inaccurate and Misleading 5: Accusations Based on the Unknowable: Predictions of Dangerousness in Civil and Criminal Proceedings 6: Dangerousness and The Unconscionable Failure to Provide Humane Care and Treatment To Persons With Mental Disabilities 7: An Extremely Suspect Classification 8: A New System of State and Federal Laws and Public Health Approaches for Persons with Mental Disabilities Deemed to Be Dangerous: Initial Recommendations Bibliography
