Neither bad nor mad. The competing discourses of psychiatry, law and politics
Duggan, Conor
Duggan, Conor
Abstract
Reviews the book "Neither Bad Nor Mad. The Competing Discourses of Psychiatry, Law and Politics" by Diedre N. Greig (see record 2002-01149-000). From a clinical perspective, the issue insufficiently addressed in this book is the reason why Garry David behaved in this way. Although he claimed that his purpose was to wreak havoc in Victoria, he could more easily have accomplished this by not drawing attention to himself and thereby automatically gaining his release. By signalling his destructive intent, he effectively sabotaged his release and involved himself and the authorities in a danse macabre from which no one emerged as a winner. As the signalling of destructive intent is a common presentation in forensic psychiatry, it is odd that it was the judiciary- rather than psychiatrists- who appeared to be more interested in the causes of David's abnormal behaviour. The reader will not find this book easy going, but it is worth the effort, and should inform our thinking in a difficult and topical area. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
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Date
2004
Type
Book review
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Citation
Duggan, C. (2004). Neither bad nor mad. The competing discourses of psychiatry, law and politics. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 184 (4), pp.374-374.