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Punishing the Mentally Ill

Punishing the Mentally Ill

By Arrigo, Bruce A.

Published by State University of New York Press

English 290 pages 2012
Estimated reading time: 5 h 19 min
PDF

About this book

A provocative exploration of a wide range of controversies in mental health law, this book argues that the criminal justice system punishes citizens for being mentally ill. A powerful, sophisticated, and original critique on how the disciplines of law and psychiatry behave and on how the mental health and justice systems operate, Punishing the Mentally Ill reveals where, how, and why the identity and humanity of persons with psychiatric disorders are consciously and unconsciously denied. Author Bruce A. Arrigo contends that despite periodic and well-intentioned efforts at reform, the current law-psychiatry system functions to punish the mentally ill for being different. The book synthesizes a wide range of mainstream and critical literature in sociology, law, philosophy, history, psychology, and psychoanalysis to establish a new theory of punishment at the law-psychiatry divide. To situate the analysis, enduring psycholegal issues are explored including the meaning of mental illness, definitions and predictions of dangerousness, the ethics of advocacy, the right to community-based treatment, the logic of forensic courtroom verdicts, transcarceration, and the execution of mentally disordered offenders among others. Punishing the Mentally Ill shows that current mental disability law research, programming, and policy are seriously flawed and that wholesale reform is necessary if the goals of citizen justice, social well-being, and humanism are to be realized.

Availability

Punishing the Mentally Ill is available as PDF at 9 online bookshops. Bookshops carrying it include Bajalibros Argentina, Bajalibros Latam, Bookshop Uruguay.

Language
English
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Frequently asked questions

In what formats is Punishing the Mentally Ill available?
Punishing the Mentally Ill is available as PDF at 9 online bookshops.
Where can I buy Punishing the Mentally Ill?
You can buy Punishing the Mentally Ill at Bajalibros Argentina, Bajalibros Latam, Bookshop Uruguay. Compare every option in the list on this page.
How long does it take to read Punishing the Mentally Ill?
At an average reading pace, Punishing the Mentally Ill takes about 5 h 19 min to read (290 pages).

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