Violence and Mental Disorder

‘If there is one issue in mental health law of truly international importance at the beginning of the 21st century, it is how to identify which people with mental disorder present an undue risk of violence. Dr Stephen Blumenthal and Professor Tony Lavender have written the most comprehensive, up-to-date, readable and balanced assessment of the huge research and clinical literatures on violence risk assessment of which I am aware. They have, in the process, made a significant contribution to our understanding of the relationship of mental disorder to violence, a contribution whose relevance extends far beyond the shores of the United Kingdom.’ - From the Foreword by John Monahan, Doberty Professor of Law, University of Virginia

Stephen Blumenthal is a clinical psychologist in forensic services at the Bracton Centre, Bexley Hospital, a medium secure unit in Kent.

Tony Lavender is a clinical psychologist and Director of the Centre for Applied Social and Psychological Development at Salomons, a faculty of Canterbury Christ Church University College, Kent.

The Zito Trust is an independent registered charity which has been campaigning for reform to mental health policy and law since the death of Jonathan Zito in December 1992.