Assessing Forensic Mental Health Need: Policy, Theory and Research

Mentally disordered offenders (MDOs) have dominated the recent political agenda for mental health care emphasised by cases such as those of Christopher Clunis and Michael Stone. Yet successive governments have constrained the development of all health and social services by the requirement that they must be demonstrated as capable of benefiting those to whom they are applied.This book analyses the development of government policy for services for MDOs since the important Butler report in 1975 and provides a theoretical framework for adjudging research which purports to demonstrate a need and outcome. Finally, it emphasises the subjective and value-laden nature of all needs assessments and their interpretation and poses the crucial questions of whose need it is that we address through MDO services, those of the patient or of society.This book will be valuable to clinicians and researchers working in mental health services, policy-makers, service commissioners and managers.

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RCPsych Publications is the publishing arm of the Royal College of Psychiatrists (based in London, United Kingdom), which has been promoting excellence in mental health care since 1841. Produced by the same editorial team who publish The British Journal of Psychiatry, they sell books for both psychiatrists and other mental health professionals; and also many written for the general public. Their popular series include the College Seminars Series, the NICE mental health guidelines and the Books Beyond Words series for people with intellectual disabilities.

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