Subjects:  1. Education    2. England    3. Legal status, laws, etc.    4. Mental Health    5. Professional Development    6. Social Work    7. Social workers    8. Sociology    9. Wales    10. English law: social security & welfare law    11. United Kingdom, Great Britain   

Subjects:  1. Applied Psychology    2. Criminal Law    3. Criminal Law - General    4. Criminal liability    5. Forensic Psychiatry    6. Insanity    7. Jurisprudence    8. Legal Reference / Law Profession    9. Mental Health    10. Psychology    11. United States    12. Law    13. Psychology & Psychiatry / Applied Psychology   

Subjects:  1. Forensic Psychology    2. Forensic psychiatry    3. Legal status, laws, etc.    4. Mental Health    5. Mental health personnel    6. Minnesota    7. Psychology    8. Psychology & Psychiatry Profession - General    9. Mental health services   

Reviews (1)

Law and Mental Health Professionals--Massachusetts
When I initially purchased this book, I was disappointed with it.It offers little in-depth discussion of the matters it considers, and this gave me an (unwarranted) impression that its treatment of the subject was superficial.Actually, as I've come to use it and refer to it, I've found it to be an ideal referenceon the subject.It is well laid-out, and the brevity it offers is that of being very succinct and clear: ideal for a reference.Read more

Subjects:  1. Forensic Psychiatry    2. Forensic Psychology    3. Legal status, laws, etc    4. Legal status, laws, etc.    5. Massachusetts    6. Mental Health    7. Mental health personnel    8. Psychology    9. Psychology & Psychiatry Profession - General   

Editorial Review

"We met no Jimmy Cagneys or Robert Mitchums among the inmates inthe prisons we visited. We found ourselves, rather, in the company of a pathetic crew ofintellectually limited, dysfunctional, half-mad, occasionally explosive losers. Long beforethese men wound up on death row, their similarly limited, primitive, impulsive parentshad raised them in the only fashion they knew.... These brutish parents had set the stageon which our condemned subjects now found themselves playing out the final act. It wasa drama generations in the making." Read more

Reviews (42)

Excellent Read, but...
I started reading this book, and found myself unwilling to put it down until I completed it.It confirmed what many of us in mental health services believe- that killers are created, not born.There were a few elements missing that I would have liked to see in the book.I wonder what the prevalence or the changes in killers post-Reagan era, when federal funding was drastically cut to mental health services (especially psychiatric hospitals).I can't help but think if psychotic parents weren't able to have children and torture them, would there be less killers today.I was disappointed to find that Dr. Otnow did not reference any treatments to help her clients.As a therapist, I would want to know if there are effective treatments available to utilize with human beings so damaged.Despite these deficits, it is still a great read.

harrowing look at the consequences of torturous childhood abuse
Dorothy O. Lewis has dedicated her life's work to study why human beings murder. Her impressive, excellent book "Guilty by Reason of Insanity: A Psychiatrist Explores the Minds of Killers" is a harrowing read. It is shocking to learn about the actual acts of murder. They are usually seen as nothing but completely senseless evil acts-until the appalling, perverted physical and sexual violence and abuses, which these murderers had endured as children, come to light. Exposed to brutal, merciless whippings, beatings, and abused in abhorrent ways as sexual slaves-some of them through being sodomized-they had to manage to survive their childhoods from hell in a constant state of terror. Many people still want to believe that people are born evil; or that evilness afflicts a person out of nowhere; or that some innate evilness makes a human being kill. But that is not true. Excellent
This is a great book about a doctor who works with inmates on death row. She interviews famous people like Ted Bundy. It is really liberal minded though which didn't change my mind about the death penalty, but it was an interesting look from another person's perspective. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Criminal Law - General    2. Criminal Psychology    3. Criminals    4. Criminology    5. Legal Reference / Law Profession    6. Mental Health    7. Mentally ill    8. Mentally ill offenders    9. Murder    10. Murder - General    11. Murderers    12. Psychology    13. Psychopathology - General    14. True Crime    15. Law / Criminal Law   

Subjects:  1. Criminal behavior    2. Criminal justice, Administration of    3. Criminal psychology    4. Criminology    5. Developmental - Lifespan Development    6. Forensic Psychology    7. Mental Health    8. Psychology    9. Sociology    10. United States    11. Causes & prevention of crime    12. Offenders    13. Social Science / Criminology   

Subjects:  1. Colorado    2. Forensic psychiatry    3. Law    4. Legal Reference / Law Profession    5. Legal status, laws, etc.    6. Mental Health    7. Mental health laws    8. Mental health personnel    9. Psychology    10. Psychology & Psychiatry Profession - General   

Subjects:  1. Child development    2. Children    3. Civil Procedure    4. Domestic Relations Law    5. Forensic Psychology    6. Law    7. Law and legislation    8. Legal status, laws, etc    9. Legal status, laws, etc.    10. Mental Health    11. Psychology    12. Research    13. Sociology Of Law    14. United States    15. Child & developmental psychology    16. Psychology & Psychiatry / Forensic Psychology   

Subjects:  1. Autobiographical memory    2. Cognitive Psychology    3. Counseling (Psychology)    4. False memory syndrome    5. Memory    6. Mental Health    7. Mental Illness    8. Psychology    9. Psychology & Psychiatry Profession - General    10. Psychotherapy - General    11. Recovered memory    12. Cognition & cognitive psychology    13. Psychology & Psychiatry / Child Psychology   

Subjects:  1. Administrative Law & Regulatory Practice    2. Legal Reference / Law Profession    3. Mental Health    4. Practical Guides    5. Psychology    6. Reference   

Subjects:  1. Law    2. Mental Health    3. Practice Management    4. Law as it applies to other professions    5. Mental health services    6. Psychology / Practice Management    7. Public health & safety law    8. USA   

Subjects:  1. Florida    2. Forensic Psychology    3. Forensic psychiatry    4. Legal status, laws, etc.    5. Mental Health    6. Mental health laws    7. Mental health personnel    8. Psychology    9. Psychology & Psychiatry Profession - General    10. Citizenship & nationality law    11. Disability: social aspects    12. Public health & preventive medicine    13. Social law    14. USA   

Subjects:  1. Mental Health    2. Psychology    3. Social Psychology    4. Mental health services    5. Psychology & Psychiatry / Social Psychology    6. Social law   

Reviews (2)

Jeckyl on Trial
My son who is now in his late 20s and in legal trouble has been diagnosed with multiple personality disorder and bipolar disorder.Reading this book has helped me tremendously understand the disease and assist in his legal defense as well as his healing.I highly recommend it due to it's ease of reading and factual information.Had I read this book when he was in his teens, perhaps the problems he now faces would not have occured.

I am Billy Milligan from the"The minds of Billy Milligan"
Should I forgive myself after all these years? Or just kill myself. My father,My garndfather and my great grandfather on my fathers side of the family all commited suicide between the ages or 43 and 46. I am 44 as offeb 14.Is it genitic? If I could afford your book I would buy it. It mayhelp me decide what to do with this useless life. Depression and guilt havehaunted me for 22 years. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Forensic Psychology    2. Mental Health    3. Personality Disorders    4. Psychology    5. Psychopathology - General   

Subjects:  1. Criminal Law - General    2. Criminal liability    3. General    4. Insanity    5. Jurisprudence    6. Law    7. Mental Health    8. Philosophy    9. Psychopathology - General    10. Clinical psychology    11. Jurisprudence & philosophy of law    12. Law-Criminal Law - General    13. Offenders    14. Philosophy / General    15. Philosophy-General    16. Psychology & Psychiatry / Pathological Psychology   

Subjects:  1. Job stress    2. Legal status, laws, etc    3. Medical    4. Mental Health    5. Psychiatry - General    6. Psychology    7. Psychotherapist and patient    8. Psychotherapists    9. Psychotherapy    10. Psychotherapy - General    11. Suicide    12. Clinical psychology    13. Psychiatry   

Reviews (1)

very good book
few psychologists can cite 3 legal cases that have shaped their profession, but everyone is aware of tarasoff.the tarasoff case, and the subsequent statuatory responses in duty to warn or duty to protect, has had a lasting effect on the field.the book briefly describes many of the events that led up to the tragedy.the book briefly discusses the california precedent and subsequent statutes.the book briefly discusses some of the ethical and legal considerations of psychologists when working with such patients.i wish that the author had included greater detail in the historical accounts (especially decision-making processes and errors of clinicians), legal arguments and previous precedents, the nature of the nation-wide legislative responses.i wish that a thorough discussion of how to ethically and legally meet the requirements of tarasoff in a manner that might preserve the therapeutic relationship and perhaps even provide opportunities for growth would have been provided.i wish that a more thorough analysis would have been provided that examines the potential costs (e.g., angry violent patients not discussing their homicidal plans or premature discontinuation of treatment). overall, a worthwhile read and certainly worth the price, used. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Confidential communications    2. Dangerously mentally ill    3. Law    4. Legal status, laws, etc    5. Legal status, laws, etc.    6. Medical    7. Medical Law & Legislation    8. Mental Health    9. Physicians    10. Psychology    11. Psychology & Psychiatry Profession - General    12. Psychopathology - General    13. Psychotherapists    14. Psychotherpists    15. United States   

Subjects:  1. Administrative Law & Regulatory Practice    2. Forensic psychiatry    3. Forensic psychology    4. Law    5. Legal Reference / Law Profession    6. Legal status, laws, etc    7. Legal status, laws, etc.    8. Mental Health    9. Mental health personnel    10. Reference    11. Texas    12. Public health & safety law   

Subjects:  1. Ethics & Moral Philosophy    2. Legal Reference / Law Profession    3. Mental Health    4. Mental Illness    5. Political Freedom & Security - Civil Rights    6. Psychology    7. Reference    8. Laws of Other Jurisdictions & General Law   

Subjects:  1. Florida    2. Law    3. Legal Reference / Law Profession    4. Mental Health    5. Mental health laws    6. Psychology    7. Psychotherapy - General    8. Mental health services    9. Social law