Mental Illness and Crime

by Robert A. A. Schug, Henry F. (Francis) Fradella

Mental Illness and Crime comprehensively synthesizes and critically examines what is currently known about the relationship of mental illness and individual psychiatric disorders, in particular with criminal, violent, and other forms of antisocial behavior. The book integrates scholarship from psychology, psychiatry, clinical neuroscience, criminology, and law when presenting explanations for and etiologies of mental illness–related criminal and violent behaviors. Moreover, the book provides the reader with a diagnostic understanding of mental disorders across various classification systems, including the current DSM-5 and ICD-10. In addition, Robert  A. Schug and Henry F. Fradella critically examine what is known about the treatment and social implications of this body of research, including its practical applications within the criminal justice system. Unique to the field, this text will contribute to a better understanding of criminality and violence and move society toward a greater acceptance of individuals with these illnesses.

592 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2014

Reviews

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.75/5


In my university course literature only two chapters in this book were compulsory reading, but I read some more of the chapters because I found them interesting and I skimmed the rest as I don't have time to read it right now. The text is quite easy to follow along, is structured clearly, is nuanced and includes a glossary. It’s quite easy to read whatever information and parts are relevant for you and to skip past the ones that aren’t relevant in your field of study. However, because the book is so broad and includes so much, there were some parts that were quite brief, so I recommend using other sources to complete this one. I also found some of the tables confusing and would’ve liked if the text before or after the tables explained/used the contents of the tables.

One thing I really liked with the book was that each chapter started with an introduction to a famous criminal and that the information in the chapter was related to that criminal - it made the text more interesting and also put the theoretical and abstract information into a concrete example. This is a great book on criminal behaviour and mental disorders, and I think this is a book I might return to someday!