Forensic mental health care - Dave Mercer

Forensic mental health care is concerned with the care of people who exhibit extreme anti-social behaviours such as sexual abuse, violence, murder, fire setting, self-harming behaviours and substance misuse. In many cases, these behaviours are indicative of severe psychiatric pathology. Nurses and others who work with such people require high degrees of skill and self-awareness. Such nurses are found in special hospitals, regional secure units, prisons, psychiatrichospitals and in community teams. This book will adopt the novel approach of addressing the most common anti-social behaviours encountered by professionals, and address them in a case-study approach. In doing so, the authors will be able to demonstrate theory and research-based elements which underpin education in true-to-life practice situations, an approach which particularly lends itself to psychiatry. The case studies will either be real cases or an amalgam of real ones. The case study elements of each chapter will comprise around 60-70 per cent of the text, with discussion of implications and conclusions providing the rest.