Abstract
It is very interesting to have the opportunity to review these two books simultaneously as they apparently address the same topic yet they could hardly be more different.
Child psychiatry and the law is a practical approach to forensic aspects of child psychiatry, now in its third edition. As I have not read the earlier editions, first published in 1989, I cannot comment on the changes in the third edition. It is published by Gaskell, the publishing house of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, and is therefore understandably set in the context of British Law.
The authors cover, in succinct and practical terms, many issues where the law and child psychiatry, or perhaps more importantly child psychiatrists, are likely to meet. Topics covered include assessing parenting capacity (Chapter 6), child abuse and neglect (Chapter 8), placement issues (Chapter 9) and juvenile justice (Chapters 12 and 13). Each chapter contains practical advice on referral, assessment and reporting procedures. Of particular interest are the specimen reports that occupy the final 70 pages of the book. These provide detailed examples of reports on topics as diverse as ‘Residence and contact’, ‘Mother kills father’, ‘Munchausen syndrome by proxy’ and ‘Compensation claim relating to head injury’.
The broad range of topics covered, the practical approach and its succinctness make the book a useful addition to the library of any child psychiatrist with an interest in forensic aspects of child psychiatry. The relative lack of legal input is likely to limit its usefulness among the legal fraternity. Australian and New Zealand readers need to take the legal differences between our systems of law and the British system into account before applying its recommendations too literally. This does not limit its usefulness very much, provided the reader is aware of the legal context in which they practise.
Child mental health and the law provides a genuinely scholarly approach to understanding the interface between child mental health and the law, as one might expect from a book co-authored by a professor of child and adolescent psychiatry and a professor of law. In this regard, it stands alone in its field. The chapter on the legal system provides a particularly useful introduction for mental health professionals, including an illuminating paragraph on ‘The law as Theater’ (p.16):
Slovenko (1973) compares a trial to a game, not in the sense of pleasurableness, but because it recreates a traumatic event with the aim of resolving it. …Slovenko and Ball suggest the courtroom is a dramatic stage upon which good and evil, right and wrong, protagonist and antagonist contend, seeking a verdict that will resolve their conflict.
The authors provide a comprehensive coverage of the field, including sections on the rights of children, child maltreatment, civil liability, malpractice, juvenile delinquency and the child mental health professional as expert witness. Each topic is placed in a historical context and there is a theoretical introduction, based on clinical research and appropriate case law. For example, chapter five ‘Child custody disputes’ places divorce in its legal context before providing a brief review of the literature on the impact of divorce on children. This is followed by a section outlining various approaches to the evaluation of children affected by divorce.
Ten sample reports provide practical guidance for practitioners in appendix one. Appendix two contains a series of landmark cases that is probably less relevant to practitioners outside the United States.
This book is an extremely valuable reference work for both legal and mental health libraries. The authors' emphasis on theory helps it transcend the local (American) legal context, making it highly relevant for mental health and legal professionals alike, at least in the English-speaking world. However, it is probably too detailed for those with only a casual interest in the forensic aspects of child and adolescent psychiatry. For mental health practitioners, psychiatrists and allied health professionals, with a major involvement in the forensic aspects of child and adolescent psychiatry it will remain a valuable addition to their libraries for many years to come.
There is growing interest in the forensic aspects of child and adolescent psychiatry here as elsewhere. Given the limited market and the range of state and federal jurisdictions covered within Australia and New Zealand, it seems unlikely that comparable books written for the local legal context will be available in the foreseeable future. In the meantime both books provide a useful addition to the literature in the field.