Protecting Society From Sexually Dangerous Offenders: Law, Justice, and Therapy

Table of Contents
Reviews

Book Blurbs:

If only the editors and authors of this remarkable work could somehow be empowered to rewrite our sexual offender legislation! This is a rich, provocative, thoughtful, and challenging collection of essays by scholars and clinicians who have carefully considered our current morally bankrupt policies and have found them woefully lacking from all imaginable perspectives. This is the one volume on this topic that must be read by every decisionmaker in the nation.
Michael L. Perlin, JD, New York Law School, author of The Hidden Prejudice: Mental Disability on Trial

Bruce J. Winick and John Q. La Fond have managed to get a remarkable group of A-list scholars to coalesce around the science, law, policy, and practice of dealing with sex offenders. This is the one absolutely indispensable book on what the public now calls sexual “predators.” It is destined to have an enormous influence on the development of the field.
John Monahan, PhD, Doherty Professor of Law, Psychology, and Psychiatry, University of Virginia, Charlottesville

Bruce J. Winick and John Q. La Fond have recruited an international cast of experts who nicely balance protection of the public against potential harm from sexual predator laws. Threats to civil liberties, anti-therapeutic influences, high financial cost, and promising alternatives to prolonged incarceration are thoughtfully explored. This outstanding book will be required reading for anyone interested in psychology and the criminal law, particularly those involved in the assessment, treatment, case management, and prosecution or defense of sex offenders.
Howard Barbaree, Professor and Clinical Director, Law and Mental Health Programs, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, and Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

The editors have produced an encyclopedia on the topic of sex offenders. The contributors offer a thorough exposition of the multiple questions sexual predation raises, exploring research on sexual offense recidivism, psychiatric prediction of future sexual predatory behavior, and various legal responses and costs. This book belongs on the shelf of every professional who deals with sexual offenders when investigating sex crimes, working for justice in the courtrooms, evaluating offenders in psychiatric consulting rooms, making policy recommendations in the think tanks, and passing laws in legislative chambers.
Alexander E. Obolsky, MD, Medical Director, Health and Law Resource, Inc., Chicago