ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that the systems of services for the mentally disordered offender have emerged from a complex interplay of social forces that are evidenced in the organisational structures and their processes of operationalisation. It concerns the relationship between society, the professions, and the development of services for the mentally disordered offender. All services are rooted within society, and owe a debt of gratitude for their existence. Despite the fact that some organisations are located in remote, rural, areas there is an intrinsic relationship between the existence of the mentally disordered offender and the services that develop in the wake of their creation. Reticulate systems of services spread its tentacles through society, penetrating the structures of our community, and claiming new territory in its colonial expansion. Having created its institutions, units and clinics it now leaves behind its home in search of new sites of power.
