ABSTRACT
It is now a quarter of a century since the first edition of this book appeared and a decade since the second. Both editions appear, in the main, to have been well received. In the first edition (and reproduced in the second) I wrote as follows:
The rationale for this book has emerged as a result of a general interest developed over many years concerning the understanding and treatment of offenders . . . I have come to be particularly interested in [that] borderland area that exists between mental disorder and criminal behaviour and in the relationships between the many disciplines and professionals that struggle to confront the problems inherent in these relationships. Thus, psychologists, psychiatrists, sociologists, lawyers, police scientists, social administrators, geneticists - to name but a few - have made contributions to this field.
