Reviews : Behaviour, Crime and Legal Processes: A Guide for Forensic Practitioners James McGuire, Tom Mason and Aisling O'Kane (eds) Wiley, 2000; pp322; £19.99, pbk ISBN 0-471-998869-9
| Author | Herschel Prins |
| Published date | 01 December 2000 |
| Date | 01 December 2000 |
| DOI | 10.1177/026455050004700421 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
290
Behaviour,
Crime
and
Legal
Processes: A
Guide
for
Forensic
Practitioners
James
McGuire,
Tom
Mason
and
Aisling
O’Kane
(eds)
Wiley,
2000;
pp322;
£19.99,
pbk
ISBN
0-471-998869-9
This
multi-authored
work
appears
at
a
time
when
inquiries
of
one
kind
or
another
(but,
in
particular,
those
into
homicides
committed
by
those
known
to
the
psychiatric
services)
have
identified
(with
somewhat
painful
regularity)
failures
in
multi-disciplinary
communication
at
every
level.
In
their
Preface
the
editors
state
that
&dquo;the
purpose
behind
the
book
is
...
primarily
integrative&dquo;
(p.xv).
This
aim
is
pursued
in
more
depth
in
chapter
1,
written
by
the
editors.
The
book
is
split
into
two
parts.
Part
I
deals
with
some
fundamental
aspects
of
&dquo;legal
frame-
works and
processes&dquo;.
Part
II
covers
aspects
of
research
and
practice.
Space
precludes
a
detailed
coverage
of
the
wide-
ranging
contributions
by
a
dozen
or
so
experts
whose
disciplines
include
law,
psychology,
psychiatry,
social
work,
nursing
and
statistics.
The
chapter
titles
afford
some
indication
of
the
book’s
coverage.
For
example,
Behavioural
Sciences
Applied
to
Forensic
and
Legal
Contexts;
Psychology
and
Police
Investigation;
Witness
Evidence;
Psycho-
Legal
Studies
as
an
Interface
Discipline;
Explanations
of
Offence
Behaviour;
Psychosis
and
Offending;
Risk
Assessment;
Service
Provision;
Treatment
of
Sex
Offenders;
Policy
Implications
of
Community
Care.
Each
chapter
stands
in
its
own
right
and
provides
an
up-to-date
view
of
the
current
’state
of
the
art’.
Inevitably,
there
are
some
areas
of
over-
lap
between
some
contributions,
notably
those
dealing
with
socio-legal
issues.
From
my
point
of
view,
involved
as
I
am
in
teaching
clinical
criminology
to
under-
graduates
and
post-graduates,
some
chapters
had
more
direct
relevance
than
others.
I
enjoyed
Eastman’s
elegant
and
informative
account
of
the
problems
involved
at
the
interface
of
law
and
psychiatry
(Eastman
is
both
a
barrister
and
psychiatrist).
His
chapter
seemed
to
me
to
get
to
grips
with
the
immediate
problems
of
the
relationship
between
&dquo;mental
science&dquo;
(his
words)
and
the
law.
O’Kane
and
Bentall
(psychologists)
provide
an
up-to-date
and
balanced
perspective
on
the
vexed
relationship
between
psychosis
and
offending.
Ron
Blackburn -
doyen
of
forensic
psychology -
gives
an
erudite
and
informative
account
of
problems
involved
in risk
prediction.
However,
Probation
Service
readers
may
be
a
little
disappointed
that
he
makes
no
reference
to
Kemshall’s
seminal
work
in
this
area.
The
chapter
that
seemed
to
me
to
really
identify
some
of
the
practical
problems
of
inter-agency
and
inter-disciplinary
communication
was
that
by
Heywood
(a
former
nurse
and
forensic
psychiatric
social
worker).
Enlivened
by
some
helpful
case
studies
he
brings
the
problems
into
stark
relief.
Probation
Service
workers
will
find
this
a
particularly
useful
contribution.
That
said,
all
the
chapters
are
of
interest
and
can
’stand
alone’.
Reflecting
on
this
I
was
led
to
the
conclusion
that
perhaps
this
was
the
book’s
main
weakness.
A
final
chapter
pulling
together
the
somewhat
disparate
contributions
would
have
greatly
enhanced
its
impact.
Perhaps
its
absence
indicates
just
how
problematic
the
area
is.
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