Forensic Psychiatry Influences of Evil

An international panel of experts from diverse specialties examine the idea of "evil" in a medical context, specifically a mental health setting, to consider how the concept can be usefully interpreted, and to elucidate its relationship to forensic psychiatry. The authors challenge the belief that the concept of "evil" plays no role in "scientific" psychiatry and is not helpful to our understanding of aberrant human thinking and behavior. Among the viewpoints up for debate are a consideration of organizations as evil structures, the "medicalization" of evil, destruction as a constructive choice, violence as a secular evil, talking about evil when it is not supposed to exist, and the influence of evil on forensic clinical practice. Among the highlights are a psychological exploration of the notion of "evil" and a variety of interesting research methods used to explore the nature of "evil."

Introduction Tom Mason Organizations As Evil Structures Dave Holmes and Cary Federman The Psychopharmaceutical Complex Brian Kean Intention, Excuse, and Insanity Tamas Pataki An Archaeology of the Psychopath: The Medicalization of Evil Tom Mason The Comforts of Evil: Dangerous Personalities in High-Security Hospitals and the Horror Film Mick McKeown and Mark Stowell-Smith Madness, Badness, and Evil Deidre N. Greig Destruction As a Constructive Choice David A. Winter Violence As Secular Evil: Forensic Evaluation and Treatment of Violent Offenders From the Viewpoint of Existential Depth Psychology Stephen A. Diamond Scapegoat, Spectacle, and Confessional: Close Encounters With Sex Offenders and Other Species of Dangerous Individuals Dave Mercer and Joel Richman The Vilification of Victimized Children in Historical Perspective Victoria Van Slyke Evil: A Clinical Perspective J. David Kinzie Capacities and Dispositions: What Psychiatry and Psychology Have to Say About Evil Gwen Adshead Should Radical Evil Be Forgiven? Marguerite La Caze Mad, Bad, and Evil: Psychiatry, Psychoanalysis, and Evil Michael Levine Talking About Evil, Even When It Is Not Supposed to Exist C. Fred Alford The Influence of Evil on Forensic Clinical Practice Tom Mason, Joel Richman, and Dave Mercer Hope in the Face of Evil Geri Miller and Ron Hood Index