Punishing the Mentally Ill — A Critical Analysis of Law and Psychiatry

Linking psychiatry and legal practices for civil/criminal confinement of the mentally ill with their often unconscious social control ideology and language, Arrigo (criminal justice, public policy, and psychology, U. of North Carolina-Charlotte) extends Lacan's semiotic framework in a critical theory of punishment in decoding why recent reform efforts have failed. The extensive references include cases cited. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Bruce A. Arrigo is Professor and Chair of the Department of Criminal Justice and Adjunct Professor of Public Policy and Psychology at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte. He is the author of several books, including Social Justice/Criminal Justice: The Maturation of Critical Theory in Law, Crime, and Deviance and, with Christopher R. Williams, Law, Psychology, and Justice: Chaos Theory and the New (Dis)order, also published by SUNY Press.