Principles and Practice of Forensic Psychiatry

The long-awaited third edition of Principles and Practice of Forensic Psychiatry is finally here. For this edition, Dr. Charles Scott joins Dr. Richard Rosner to edit a collection of 101 chapters organized into 11 sections that prove to be a treasure trove of information spanning the breadth of forensic psychiatry. The sections are as follows: History and Practice of Forensic Psychiatry, Legal Regulation of Psychiatry, Forensic Evaluation and Treatment in the Criminal Justice System, Civil Law, Family Law and Domestic Relations, Correctional Psychiatry, Aggression and Violence, Psychological and Neuroimaging Assessments, Special Topics in Forensic Psychiatry, Basic Issues in Law, and Landmark Cases in Forensic Psychiatry. Since the publication of the second edition, several landmark legal decisions have influenced the practice of forensic psychiatry, including Sell v. United States, Clark v. Arizona, Indiana v. Edwards, Miller v. Alabama, Hall v. Florida, and Roper v. Simmons, and this edition has been thoroughly updated to account for these landmark rulings. In addition, since the last edition, neuroimaging has increasingly made its way into the courtroom to illuminate (or obfuscate) psycholegal questions, and the book contains an excellent chapter exploring this growing area of practice. The book has also been updated to reflect changes in diagnostic nomenclature in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5),¹ most apparent in the chapter on amnesia.

The section on correctional psychiatry, increasingly recognized as an important facet of forensic psychiatry, has been expanded and includes additional chapters on hunger strikes and the right to refuse treatment in a correctional setting. The extensive scholarly output on correctional psychiatry in recent years makes a full treatment of the topic beyond the scope of this text, but the book's section provides an excellent overview of the field.

The important topic of aggression and violence gets its own section in this edition, with chapters on women and violence, mass murder, terrorism, and cyberstalking.

As psychological testing, structured risk assessment instruments, and tools for evaluating malingering are now commonplace in forensic evaluations, this edition has a whole section devoted to psychological testing. However, these chapters are not comprehensive, but instead provide a brief overview of some of the more common tools in use. This section is likely to be most helpful to those practitioners who are unfamiliar with the use of such tests.

In addition to the staple topics of the field such as criminal and civil competencies, criminal responsibility, and civil litigation, one finds information on more nuanced topics, such as brainwashing, mass murder, and the psychological evaluation of torture. Each chapter is succinctly written, bursting with facts, and easy to read. For quick reference, each chapter concludes with a box summarizing its key points. The text is organized in such a way that each chapter stands alone, and in fact, one can dip into a specific section of an individual chapter if looking for information on a particular topic. Each chapter lists references for those wishing to expand their interests.

Given how large (and heavy) the book is, it is especially helpful that an e-book is accessible with purchase of the written version, making the publication accessible by internet from anywhere. The e-book is also viewable on smart phones or tablets via the Bookshelf app. It has audio capability (a text-to-speech reader rather than an audio recording of the text), which may be appealing for those preparing for board examinations or for the busy forensic fellow. This feature even allows the user to alter the speed of narration, but unfortunately, the fastest speeds offered are actually so fast as to be unintelligible.

The text is too lengthy to be used in isolation as preparation for the forensic psychiatry initial certification or maintenance of certification examinations. However, the summaries of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Landmark Cases in the final chapters could be particularly useful for that purpose. The text will be of immense value to psychiatry residents, forensic psychiatry fellows, forensic psychiatrists and psychologists in practice, and lawyers wishing to acquaint themselves with the interface of psychiatry and the law. This book stands out as the most comprehensive and up-to-date survey of American forensic psychiatry and is a must-have acquisition for the bookshelves of every discerning forensic psychiatrist, psychologist, and trainee.

• © 2018 American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law