Book Review: The Practical Police Surgeon
| Date | 01 September 1969 |
| DOI | 10.1177/000486586900200314 |
| Published date | 01 September 1969 |
| Author | J. H. W. Birrell |
AUST. &N.Z. JOURNAL OF CRIMINOLOGY (1969): 2, 3 185
theoretical
bases
outlined in
the
earlier
review of
the
literature
-
and
no sense
in
which
these postulated
"eures"
are
integrated
into acomprehensive and
thoroughgoing
programme
for
the
"left-
out".
In effect, then,
the
book
has
nothing
more
to offer
than
what
one might expect
from aglossy American
retread
over old
ground. The
bland
insouciance of
the
book's proposed scope would almost
certainly
annoy
the
reader
familiar
with
the
area;
the
newcomer could probably
find a more comprehensive introduction
to
the
field. The production of
the
book
is its
most
attractive
feature as
the
paper
is of
good
quality,
the
type-face legible
and
the
binding fairly
strong
for a paper-
back;
ver.
even here,
the
care
and
precision
with
which
the
proof
-reading has
been done could
have
been much
improved.
DIANA
DAVIS
Faculty of Education,
Monash University,
Melboume.
The Practical Police Surgeon: A Handbook
published by The Association of Police
Surgeons of
Great
Britain,
Sweet
and
Maxwell, London, 1969, 252 pp., $8.60.
THIS is a valuable book in an under-
supplied and under-estimated
branch
of
legal medicine. In general, it adequately
fills a
number
of gaps,
although
at
some
points
the
coverage Is a little thin. It is
abook
that
every
doctor,
who
sees the
"occasional" police case, should have.
Indeed,
it
should be on
the
shelf of any
and
every
general practitioner, as
"a
general
practitioner
with
alist of 2500
patients
would
attend
over
aperiod
of
forty
years
in
practice
an average of 100
cases of medico-Iegal interest,
and
apolice
surgeon
in a
town
with
apopulation of
100,000 would be called
to
some 3350
episodes in the same period".
Consequently,
the
editors
are
convinced
that
the
book will be of value to
the
young
police surgeon; of assistance to every
practitioner
of medicine,
and
probably to
lawyers. Iwould add:
certainly
to lawyers
and police officers, since a
study
of
the
book
demonstrates
the
use
and
value of
legal medicine in
the
field as it were, as
weIl as its limitations, Some police
officers, lawyers and
government
officials
are
not
aware
that
there
are
either
uses
or limitations.
.
Written
primarily for use in
the
British
Isles, some
matters
such as
the
National
Health
Service have little application in
Australia
while
there
are
differences in
the
Mental Health Act and
the
Poisons
and
Dangeraus
Drugs Acts compared
with
Australian
statutes.
Nevertheless,
there
is
much
of
interest
and value in these
sections.
Predictably,
with
at least 18
authors
involved,
the
quality
of
the
writing
varies
but in
most
cases it is good
sound
prac-
tical stuff.
The
chapter
on the law
relating
to
criminal responsibility is excellent, as
are
those on
sex
offences,
the
drinking
driver
and alcohol in relation to road traffic and
crime.
One
wonders
if indeed the Road
Safety
Act 1967 is the first Iegislation "in
our
law"
making it an offence to withhold evidence
that
might be self-incriminating. The
High
Court
recently decided
that
the
selection of the site for blood-taking is
the doctor's, and refusal to
submit
to
the
doctor's choice with ademand
that
blood
be
taken
from
the
foot - or dorsal vein
of
the
penis - is a refusal to give blood.
The specimen reports in
the
appendices
are first-rate although Appendix A is
perhaps
wrongly
called "Rifled
Arms"
as
it
dealsmainly
with
shot-guns.
There
is
acomplete lack of original references.
One personal criticism, possibly not
really justified by virtue of
the
fact
that
the book is a practical manual, is
that
there
is little emphasis
anywhere
on
epidemiology and prevention. This lack
of emphasis is a
pity
as it is this reviewer's
firm belief
that
much of the
material
dealt
with
in the pages of this book forms the
skeleton for much of
the
new public health.
After all, clerical civil
servants
and
their
government
departments, as weIl as
lawyers, have little tradition
of
self
criticism and are
not
trained in epidemio-
Iogical ways, Medical practitioners are.
J. H. W. BIRRELL.
Police Surgeon,
Victoria Police Force
Delinquency and Crime: Cross Cultural
Perspectives, R. S. &J. T. Cavan Lippin-
cott, Phil. & N.Y., 1968, 264 pp., $2.70
(paperback).
BEING familiar with
Ruth
Shonle Cavan's
"The Family", the
present
writer
came
to
this
study
with
an expectation
that
it
might be
marked
by
the
same
penetration,
comprehensive grasp and clarity of expres-
sion which
lent
distinction to
her
earlier
work. One is left half satisfied. In
part
this arises from
the
diversity of
the
material she and
her
co-author, J. T.
Cavan, have
drawn
together. In
part
it
Is a
result
of a failure to develop an
analytical
framewerk
which could allow
"cross
cultural
perspectives" across
the
whole field represented.
The book is intended to provide
both
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