Forensic Psychologist

Kerry Daynes, leading forensic psychologist, opens up the case files of some of her most perplexing clients to uncover what lies buried behind some of the most extreme and disturbing behaviour. Whether she is dealing with a young murderer who says he has heard voices telling him to kill, a teacher who daubs children in red paint and threatens to abduct them, or an aspiring serial killer who faints at the sight of blood, Kerry's quest is to delve beyond the classic question asked of her profession: 'Are they mad, or are they bad?'

Lie detection, offender profiling, jury selection, insanity in the law, predicting the risk of re-offending, the minds of serial killers, and many other topics that fill news and fiction are all aspects of the rapidly developing area of scientific psychology broadly known as forensic psychology. This fascinating Very Short Introduction discusses all the aspects of psychology that are relevant to the legal and criminal process as a whole.

Is violence normal? Aren't they all evil? Does trauma cause violence? And can we change violent minds? For Dr. Gwen Adshead, these are the most common questions she is asked about her work as a psychiatrist and psychotherapist in secure hospitals and prisons. Dr. Adshead pays attention to an aspect of humanity we often find hard to comprehend and invites us to do the same as she considers the motivations, the risk factors, the social roots of violence as well as the rehabilitation of offenders.