Dangerous People Dangerous People Nigel Walker (ed) Blackstone Press, 1996; pp 192; £15.95
| DOI | 10.1177/026455059604300309 |
| Author | Herchel Prins |
| Date | 01 September 1996 |
| Published date | 01 September 1996 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
158
Dangerous People
Dangerous
People
Nigel
Walker (ed)
Blackstone Press,
1996;
pp
192;
£15.95
I
would
like
Michael
Howard,
and
maybe
his
successors,
to
read
this
book.
Readers
may
ask
’Why?’.
The
answer
is
to
be
found
in
the
book’s
graphic
and
thoughtful
delineation
of the
complexities
of
the
behaviours
that
society
looks
upon
as
’dangerous’
and
expects
to
be
contained.
The
Home
Secretary
seems
to
take
the
view
that
strict
control
and
supervision,
without
a
wide
and
rich
theoretical
framework,
accompanied by
practice
skills
developed
under
the
care
of
experienced
workers,
are
sufficient
in
themselves
to
deal
with
such
people.
The
various
contributions
to
this
volume
provide
a
detailed
over-view
of
the
individuals
the
criminal
justice
and
mental
health
care
systems
categorize
as
dangerous.
Although
Walker
advises
that
’the
prediction
of
violence
will
never
become
an
exact
science’,
many
of these
contributions
give
pointers
as
to
how
we
might
sharpen
our
efforts
at
supervision.
Those
dealing
with
the
complexities
of
aetiology
(intrinsic
and
extrinsic)
throw
into
stark
relief
the
simplistic
expectations
of
those
who
uncritically
espouse
such
management
panaceas
as
risk
registration
and,
for
example
in
the
mental
health
field,
the
recent
introduction
of
’after-care
under
supervision’
(Mental
Health
(Patients
in
the
Community)
Act,
1995).
The
uncertain
relationships
between
mental
disturbances
and
serious
violence
against
persons
and
property
are
well
described
in
chapters
by
psychiatrists
John
Crichton,
John
Gunn
and
Paul
Bowden.
The
latter
places
the
issue
into
useful
perspective:
‘Anarrative
explanation
will
tell
us
that
in
certain
necessary
conditions
(eg
in
certain
types
of
delusions
and
affective
states)
violence
can
happen;
it
will
not
tell
us
that
it
is
inevitable
(in
which
case
the
behaviour
would
not
be
unexpected).
Repetitiveness
can
lead
from
possibility
to
probability
explanation,
but
it
is
the
introspectibles
(meanings
and
reasons)
which
help
us
to
see
why
such
actions
are
highly
probable.’
Another
psychiatrist,
(West)
provides
a
useful
chapter
on
dangerous
sexual
molestation
and
some
of
the
pitfalls
facing
the
unwary
practitioner.
Legal
and
administrative
aspects
of
decision
making
are
provided
by
Padfield
and
Hirschmann
(the
latter
writing
as
a
former
Parole
Board
member).
Roger
Shaw’s
chapter
on
the
management
of
dangerous
offenders
in
the
community
will
be
of
particular
interest
to
readers
of
this
Journal.
He
writes
with
authority
from
his
current
position
as
a
CPO
(Powys)
and
from
former
experience
as
a
Probation
Inspector
and
as a
researcher
into
risk
assessment
during
spells
at
the
Cambridge
Institute
of
Criminology.
One
or
two
of
his
observations
are
worthy
of
emphasis.
For
example,
he
draws
attention
to
the
absence
of
common
recording
procedures
and
documentation
and
also
to
the
problems
inherent
in
having
open
records.
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