Robert I. Simon

Robert Simon's Bad Men Do What Good Men Dream: A Forensic Psychiatrist Illuminates the Darker Side of Human Behavior is that rare title that is both essential reading for the mental health professional and accessible in style and content to the fascinated lay reader. In twelve powerful and provocative chapters, the author introduces readers to a psychological perspective on evil, character and destiny, as well as the making of good men and women. Simon also illuminates the psychology of psychopaths, serial killers, rapists and all manner of evil characters who appall and challenge us by their very existence. He rejects the common belief that his subjects are "monsters" with nothing in common with the more "normal" among us. Simon posits that if we deny our dark side, it can only obscure our understanding of violent offenders and impede our ability to both know ourselves and control our own, at times, unacceptable impulses. The author is among the foremost experts in forensic psychiatry. He is Director of the Program in Psychiatry and Law at Georgetown University School of Medicine. Author or co-author of more than two dozen books and editions, including the foundational Textbook of Forensic Psychiatry, Simon has made important contributions to the field of forensic psychiatry for more than 30 years. He is also an eloquent writer with a dramatic, yet nuanced, narrative style that takes the reader inside the mind of the evildoer. The first edition of this groundbreaking work garnered uniformly superlative reviews and was translated into several languages. This updated version retains Simon's engrossing portrayals and keen insight, while offering a number of key enhancements. The highlights include: Explorations of the Internet and violence, "corporate" psychopaths, cyberstalkers, perpetrators of school violence, and a new cast of serial killers, terrorists, and other evildoers. A psychological perspective on evil, serial killers, and us. Updates on the neuroscience and genetics of deviant behaviors. Reflections on empathy, character, and destiny: the making of good men and women. A new foreword by Thomas G. Gutheil, M.D., Professor of Psychiatry and Co-Founder, Program in Psychiatry and the Law at Harvard Medical School, that illuminates Simon's thesis and grounds it in historical context. Graphic but never sensational, unsparing but never cold, Simon's writing transcends the theoretical and achieves that most difficult of aims: leading readers to discover, contain, and transform the darkness within us all, to the betterment of our human condition.

A Forensic Psychiatrist Illuminates the Darker Side of Human Behavior

Bad Men Do What Good Men Dream

Liza H. Gold

Perhaps never before has an objective, evidence-based review of the intersection between gun violence and mental illness been more sorely needed or more timely. Gun Violence and Mental Illness, written by a multidisciplinary roster of authors who are leaders in the fields of mental health, public health, and public policy, is a practical guide to the issues surrounding the relation between firearms deaths and mental illness. Tragic mass shootings that capture headlines reinforce the mistaken beliefs that people with mental illness are violent and responsible for much of the gun violence in the United States. This misconception stigmatizes individuals with mental illness and distracts us from the awareness that approximately 65% of all firearm deaths each year are suicides. This book is an apolitical exploration of the misperceptions and realities that attend gun violence and mental illness. The authors frame both pressing social issues as public health problems subject to a variety of interventions on individual and collective levels, including utilization of a novel perspective: evidence-based interventions focusing on assessments and indicators of dangerousness, with or without indications of mental illness. Reader-friendly, well-structured, and accessible to professional and lay audiences, the book: Reviews the epidemiology of gun violence and its relationship to mental illness, exploring what we know about those who perpetrate mass shootings and school shootings. Examines the current legal provisions for prohibiting access to firearms for those with mental illness and whether these provisions and new mandated reporting interventions are effective or whether they reinforce negative stereotypes associated with mental illness. Discusses the issues raised in accessing mental health treatment in regard to diminished treatment resources, barriers to access, and involuntary commitment. Explores novel interventions for addressing these issues from a multilevel and multidisciplinary public health perspective that does not stigmatize people with mental illness. This includes reviews of suicide risk assessment; increasing treatment engagement; legal, social, and psychiatric means of restricting access to firearms when people are in crisis; and, when appropriate, restoration of firearm rights. Mental health clinicians and trainees will especially appreciate the risk assessment strategies presented here, and mental health, public health, and public policy researchers will find Gun Violence and Mental Illness a thoughtful and thought-provoking volume that eschews sensationalism and embraces serious scholarship.

Gun Violence and Mental Illness

Kenneth Tardiff

La violenza è un aspetto endemico della nostra società ed epidemico della nostra epoca. Valutare e trattare pazienti che hanno ideazioni e comportamenti violenti può essere frustrante, ansiogeno e, addirittura, pericoloso, in quanto eventuali errori di giudizio possono provocare conseguenze disastrose. La valutazione e la gestione adeguata del problema è dunque cruciale per i professionisti della salute mentale che si trovano ad affrontarlo. La presente opera è strutturata per essere uno strumento di supporto e di formazione per queste figure professionali. I vari capitoli prendono in considerazione la diversità del setting clinico, i dati demografici relativi ai pazienti, la psicopatologia e le diverse modalità di trattamento, conferendo al volume la caratteristica di un testo di riferimento non solo per i clinici ma anche per i loro pazienti e per le comunità la cui sicurezza dipende dal giudizio di professionisti competenti.

Manuale per operatori della salute mentale

Valutazione e gestione della violenza

Daniel W. Shuman

"Why did the defendant do it?" Mental health professionals are asked to help courts answer this question. To serve justice, the law calls for evidence of the mental state at the time a crime is committed, of suicide intent in civil litigation, and of mental capacity in contract litigation. The law asks psychiatrists and psychologists to retrospectively determine mental states -- a daunting task made even more difficult by the passage of time, the uncertain credibility of witnesses, the paucity of collateral sources of information, and often the death of the person in question. This is the first book dedicated entirely to the retrospective assessment of mental states. This fascinating book explores the role of the psychiatrist and psychologist, as an expert witness in litigation, in rendering a retrospective judgment of an individual's mental state. Distinguished contributors apply their expertise in psychiatry, psychology, and the law to address the problems of retrospective assessment. With the goal of developing guidelines for more accurate retrospective assessment of mental states, they present topics such as Guidelines for conducting retrospective assessments in children and adults Guidelines for the retrospective assessment without benefit of direct examination Assessments of suicide cases in both civil and criminal litigation Psychological testing and interviewing techniques that may assist in retrospective assessment Methods and analysis to help clinicians and attorneys critically evaluate the search for "truth" about the past. This remarkable book will prove indispensable for helping clinicians, lawyers, and judges better understand the complex and difficult process of retrospective reconstruction of mental states.

Predicting the Past

Retrospective Assessment of Mental States in Litigation

Lawrence E. Lifson

"Could I be sued?" The exploding number of malpractice lawsuits in recent years has brought this question to the mind of every clinician---the conscientious as well as the negligent. A unique and practical guide to clinical risk management, this book combines the expertise of mental health professionals, judges, attorneys, and insurance industry experts, to help the clinician provide effective treatment while reducing the risk of legal liability. Wide-ranging, clinically based, and up to date, it will be a welcome guide for medical and surgical practitioners as well. The first section gives clinicians a working knowledge of legal regulation in psychiatry and medicine, covering informed consent, documentation of patient care, and potential conflicts of interest. The second section identifies high-risk areas for lawsuits, including managing suicidal and violent patients, boundary violations, supervision issues, prescription of medications, liability in managed care settings, and treatment termination. The book concludes with a primer on clinical testimony in the courtroom. The broad range of distinguished contributors to this volume will provide a survival guide to clinicians in the increasingly complex and rapidly changing world of health care.

A Comprehensive Handbook

The Mental Health Practitioner and the Law

Serienmörder, Vergewaltiger und Verbrecher üben eine starke Faszination aus, die sich in Büchern, Filmen oder Fernsehserien niederschlägt. Aber tatsächlich sind Psychopathen in modernen Gesellschaften oft sehr erfolgreich - soziale Chamäleons, die nicht erkannt werden und die geschickt ihre Mitmenschen manipulieren und schädigen. Der forensische Psychiater Robert I. Simon berichtet aus langjähriger Erfahrung über die "bösen Menschen". Aber er zeigt auch, welch schmaler Grat liegt zwischen ihren tatsächlichen Gewalthandlungen und den Träumen aller anderen. Erst wenn man dem "Bösen"mit Empathie begegnet und begreift, warum bei manchen Menschen die Schutzmechanismen versagen, erkennt man sich selbst und die eigene dunkle Seite besser.

Psychologie des Bösen

Die dunkle Seite der Seele

General clinicians conduct most forensic psychiatric examinations and provide most psychiatric testimony. Yet these clinicians often receive little or no training in forensic psychiatry, leaving them ill prepared to meet the inevitable ethical and legal challenges that arise. Both timely and informative, this textbook is the first reference designed and written for both the general clinician and the experienced forensic psychiatrist. Here, 28 recognized experts introduce the forensic subjects that commonly arise in clinical practice. Unique in the literature, this outstanding collection covers • Introductory subjects—Organized psychiatry and forensic practice; the legal system and the distinctions between therapeutic and forensic roles; business aspects of starting a forensic practice; the role of the expert witness; the differences between the ethics of forensic and clinical psychiatry; the use of DSM in the courtroom; and issues that arise in working with attorneys• Civil litigation—The standard of care and psychiatric malpractice; civil competency; issues in conducting evaluations for personal injury litigation; personal injury claims of psychiatric harm; and disability determination and other employment-related psychiatric evaluations• Criminal justice—Competency to stand trial and insanity evaluations; the use of actuarial and clinical assessments in the evaluation of sexual offenders; psychiatry in correctional settings; and the relationship between psychiatry and law enforcement, including mental health training, crisis negotiation, and fitness for duty evaluations• Special topics—Assessment of malingering; evaluations of children and adolescents; violence risk assessments; the use of prediction instruments to determine "dangerousness"; and the evolving standard of expert psychological testimony Each chapter is organized around case examples and includes a review of key concepts, practical guidelines, and references for further reading. A study guide is also available for use in teaching, in studying, and in preparing for the forensic board examination. This practical textbook makes this interesting specialty accessible to trainees and seasoned practitioners. With its detailed glossary of legal terms, subject index, and index of legal cases, it will be a welcome addition to all psychiatric residency and forensic fellowship programs.

The American Psychiatric Publishing Textbook of Forensic Psychiatry

The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in September 2001 turned PTSD into a household word. But posttraumatic stress disorder has been documented throughout history: For example, as long ago as 1666, Samuel Pepys wrote in his diary that he still had night terrors 6 months after the great fire of London. PTSD, officially recognized as a diagnosis by DSM-III in 1980, is only the most recent term used to describe the suffering of trauma victims. Few could have foreseen its profound impact on litigation. Often dubbed the "black hole" of litigation -- where allegations are relatively easy to assert but difficult to defend because the symptoms are subjective -- PTSD has deeply influenced civil and criminal law in cases ranging from malpractice and personal injury to sexual harassment and child abuse. It is thus vital for all legal parties involved that forensic examiners perform credible psychiatric and psychological examinations of PTSD claimants. Intended to add direction and discipline to the forensic assessment of PTSD litigants, this expanded second edition begins with an updated chapter on current and future trends for the role of PTSD in litigation. Chapter 2 notes the increasing evidence that exposure to multiple events not only is more common than previously thought but also increases the risk for development of PTSD following the target event. Chapter 3 details diagnostic criteria and guidelines for the forensic psychiatric examination of the PTSD claimant. Most literature discusses PTSD in adults. Chapter 4 offers a rare perspective on PTSD in children and adolescents, including parental response to the trauma, developmental effects, and delayed onset symptoms. Forensic assessment of PTSD claimants is presented in Chapter 5, followed by new chapters on disability determinants (how PTSD impairs occupational functioning) and PTSD in the workplace, where the causal relationship between employment stress and a resulting mental or emotional disorder must be determined. Chapter 8 covers guidelines for malingering in PTSD, where the claimant may be motivated by financial gain or by a reduced charge resulting from an insanity defense. A new chapter on forensic laboratory testing in PTSD presents the tantalizing potential of psychophysiologic measurement to redeem the PTSD diagnosis from its daunting subjectivity. This essential collection by 13 U.S. experts sheds important new light on forensic guidelines for effective assessment and diagnosis and determination of disability, serving both plaintiffs and defendants in litigation involving PTSD claims. Mental health and legal professionals, third-party payers, and interested laypersons will welcome this balanced approach to a complex and difficult field.

Robert I. Simon

About

Books

Join the club