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Mental Health Homicide and Society: Understanding Health Care Governance

Mental Health Homicide and Society: Understanding Health Care Governance

Author: David P. Horton
Publisher: Hart Publishing
ISBN: 9781509951994

Published In: April 2021
Format: Paperback
Jurisdiction: U.K. ? Disclaimer:
Countri(es) stated herein are used as reference only
Hardback Edition ISBN: 9781509912148

List Price: HKD 519.87

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Description
Contents

Details

A homicide committed by a mentally disordered person who is under the care of health service professionals is a shocking event. Otherwise known as a 'patient homicide', these incidents are followed by an investigation into the care and treatment received by the perpetrator. These investigations are often regarded as a way to 'learn lessons', establish accountability and provide catharsis to families and the public. The book argues however that patient homicide events and the circumstances in which they occur are communicated about within closed systems of life (eg law, medicine). These systems operate according to unique internal logics. The communications produced by these systems, nevertheless, resonate in society and enable a diverse and complex space of governance to emerge – a space of governance in which universal understandings about patient homicides, health care, public safety and risk are unachievable.

The Scottish Government initiated reform of their patient homicide investigation procedures in 2017 and plans to reform patient homicide investigations in England are slowly germinating. This original and compelling book is therefore a timely and important contribution. It concludes that health policy makers should re-evaluate their normative commitments to patient homicide risk reduction in a world of disharmony, objection and resistance.

1. Homicide and Health Care: Context and Complexity

I. Introduction

II. Patient Homicide and Health Care

III. Background and Context

IV. Thinking About Complexity

V. Central Questions and Themes

VI. Conclusions

2. The Investigatory Domain

I. Introduction

II. The Inquiry

III. The Inquiry Industry

IV. Conclusions