Forensic Psychiatry: Influences of Evil

Tom Mason9781588294494, 1-58829-449-8, 1-59745-006-5

An international panel of experts from diverse specialties examine the idea of ”evil” in a medical context, specifically a mental health setting, to consider how the concept can be usefully interpreted, and to elucidate its relationship to forensic psychiatry. The authors challenge the belief that the concept of ”evil” plays no role in ”scientific” psychiatry and is not helpful to our understanding of aberrant human thinking and behavior. Among the viewpoints up for debate are a consideration of organizations as evil structures, the ”medicalization” of evil, destruction as a constructive choice, violence as a secular evil, talking about evil when it is not supposed to exist, and the influence of evil on forensic clinical practice. Among the highlights are a psychological exploration of the notion of ”evil” and a variety of interesting research methods used to explore the nature of ”evil.”

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Table of contents :
cover
……Page 1
contents
……Page 2
01 introduction……Page 11
02 organizations as evil structures……Page 25
03 the psychopharmaceutical complex……Page 41
04 intention, excuse and insanity……Page 76
05 an archaeology of psychopath, the medicalization of evil……Page 97
06 the comforts of evil, dangerous personalities in high-security hospitals and the horror film……Page 117
07 madness, badness, and evil……Page 143
08 destruction as a constructive choiсe……Page 161
09 violence as a secular evil……Page 186
10 scapegoat, spectacle, and confessional……Page 214
11 the vilification of victimized children in historical perspective……Page 238
12 evil, a clinical perspective……Page 256
13 capacities and dispositions……Page 265
14 should radical evil be forgiven……Page 278
15 mad, bad, and evil……Page 299
16 talking about evil, even when it is not supposed to exist……Page 317
17 the influence of evil on forensic clinical practice……Page 330
18 hope in the face of evil……Page 357
index……Page 369