Forensic Psychiatry

An international panel of experts from diverse specialties examine the idea of "e;evil"e; in a medical context, specifically a mental health setting, to consider how the concept can be usefully interpreted, and to elucidate its relationship to forensic psychiatry. The authors challenge the belief that the concept of "e;evil"e; plays no role in "e;scientific"e; psychiatry and is not helpful to our understanding of aberrant human thinking and behavior. Among the viewpoints up for debate are a consideration of organizations as evil structures, the "e;medicalization"e; of evil, destruction as a constructive choice, violence as a secular evil, talking about evil when it is not supposed to exist, and the influence of evil on forensic clinical practice. Among the highlights are a psychological exploration of the notion of "e;evil"e; and a variety of interesting research methods used to explore the nature of "e;evil."e;