By Curt R. Bartol and Anne M. Bartol. Second edition. Los Angeles: Sage Publications, 2008. 555 pp. $79.95.
In the preface to their book, Curt R. and Anne M. Bartol describe it as “designed to be a core text in courses in forensic psychology, including those enrolling criminal justice majors and social work majors.” While the book is well written, easy to read, and well referenced, it focuses more on providing an overview of forensic psychology, with emphasis on the professional applications of this field of knowledge. The result is a book that is broad in scope but lacking in sufficient depth and detail to be useful to most practicing forensic psychiatrists.
The book is divided into six major sections, including Introduction to Forensic Psychology, Police and Investigative Psychology, Psychology and the Courts, Criminal Psychology, Victimology and Victim Services, and Correctional Psychology, which includes juvenile corrections. The book includes a glossary of terms used throughout the text, a list of cases cited, an extensive reference list, and an index. Words listed in the glossary are in boldface type where they appear in the text. Chapters are extensively referenced throughout the book, and this attention to primary sources is one of the greatest strengths of the text. The logical organization of the material, coupled with extensive referencing, make this text ideal for finding primary sources for a wide range of topics. The reference list at the back of the book extends over 37 pages.
The authors' writing style makes the content easy to digest, with clear topic headings that flow in a logical and coherent manner throughout the chapters. The text has small vignettes sprinkled throughout, but many are too short to do more than introduce a topic for consideration by the reader (e.g., “Help for the Homeless with Mental Illness” covers two-thirds of a page and cites a single program from Marin County, California).
While many of the topics lack depth in deference to the large volume of material being reviewed, there are some sections where the material is both extensive and well organized, making it easily accessible. The chapter on psychology of sexual assault is an excellent overview of typologies of men who rape, including a detailed summary of the Massachusetts Treatment Center Rapist Typology subtypes and the Groth Rapist Typology system. The authors also describe how these assessment systems may be applied to classify pedophilic offenders. Despite these strengths, the authors devote fewer than three pages to assessment and treatment of juvenile sex offenders. The discussion is limited to using phallometry to assess deviant sexual arousal, and mention of the Abel Assessment for Sexual Interest is completely omitted.
This book admirably fulfills its described role as the core textbook for undergraduates or graduate students who seek broad exposure to the research regarding and the applicability to the field of forensic psychology. For most practicing forensic psychiatrists, however, it lacks the depth within most of the topics to make it particularly useful as a reference text. Similarly, most forensic psychiatry fellows are likely to find that they are looking to the primary sources cited instead of relying on the text alone, although there are some pearls within its pages.
Footnotes
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Disclosures of financial or other potential conflicts of interest: None.
- American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law