In Treating Adult and Juvenile Offenders With Special Needs, José B. Ashford, Bruce D. Sales, and William H. Reid address the confluence of criminal behavior and mental illness. This pathfinding book is startlingly comprehensive. It does not merely summarize scholarly research, it distills it into probing discussions of implications for the treatment of offenders with mental disorders. From policy to practice, community setting to secure setting, and biomedical protocol to social-psychological intervention, chapters apply emerging findings to such topics as standards of care, the design of more effective treatment, release and aftercare planning, and systems considerations in reforming services. The book is also distinguished by affording attention to the special issues—substance abuse, developmental or learning disabilities, violence, and sexual offending—that complicate treatment. This book is at once a comprehensive, practice-oriented text and an exhaustive examination of a witheringly challenging social problem.
—Mark W. Fraser, PhD, Tate Distinguished Professor for Children in Need, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, School of Social Work
All criminals are not the same. In fact, a large proportion have special needs—disorders of cognition, thought, mood, personality, development, and behavior—that shape the service of justice. Drs. Ashford, Sales, and Reid and their colleagues have written a monumental textbook on the treatment of such individuals. After a century of failed attempts to homogenize criminality and cast such offenders onto the backwaters of philosophical nihilism and practical cynicism, it is about time. Treating Adult and Juvenile Offenders With Special Needs will influence clinical decision making, program planning, and policy formulation for years to come.
—J. Reid Meloy, PhD, Former President, American Academy of Forensic Psychology
This book is a giant step forward in benchmarking where we are and where we have come from in evaluating and treating special offender populations. It is a tremendous resource for both clinicians and academics. Ashford, Sales, Reid, and their contributors are to be strongly commended for demonstrating the value of interdisciplinary scholarship in enhancing our understanding of society's most challenging dysfunctional and, at times, dangerous citizens. This superbly edited text is must-reading for all forensic-mental-health trainees.
—James Cavanaugh Jr., MD, Professor of Psychiatry, Rush Medical College, Chicago, Illinois
This book, whose editors and authors are among the most respected practitioners in their fields, offers an encyclopedic coverage of its subject matter. The book's particular strength is that it presents a much-needed multidisciplinary approach to the field. Both newcomers and the most experienced practitioners will find much of value here.
—Richard Rosner, MD, Medical Director, Forensic Psychiatry Clinic, Bellevue Hospital Center, New York, and Clinical Professor, Department of Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine
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