Managing madness, murderers and paedophiles: understanding change in the field of English forensic psychiatry

This paper discusses changes occurring in the field of English forensic psychiatry which appear to be linked to feelings of discomfort amongst medical professionals who manage care in such settings. These changes are neither the result of a sudden ‘shock’ to the system, nor small improvisations at t...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: McDonald, Ruth, Furtado, Vivek, Völlm, Birgit
Format: Article
Published: Emerald 2016
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/35145/
_version_ 1848795012597284864
author McDonald, Ruth
Furtado, Vivek
Völlm, Birgit
author_facet McDonald, Ruth
Furtado, Vivek
Völlm, Birgit
author_sort McDonald, Ruth
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description This paper discusses changes occurring in the field of English forensic psychiatry which appear to be linked to feelings of discomfort amongst medical professionals who manage care in such settings. These changes are neither the result of a sudden ‘shock’ to the system, nor small improvisations at the margins, but instead appear to reflect a growing perception amongst psychiatrists of accepted field practice as inadequate for some types of patients. To understand how feelings and emotions are implicated in these changes we draw on and develop the work of Pierre Bourdieu to suggest that changes must be seen in the context of field tensions, which have implications for habitus. However, we do not view feelings of discomfort merely as a response to these tensions. Instead we suggest a more dynamic process with the habitus playing a key role in structuring what people pay attention to and how they perceive it, as well as whether they experience particular feelings in the first place, therefore.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T19:25:19Z
format Article
id nottingham-35145
institution University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T19:25:19Z
publishDate 2016
publisher Emerald
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling nottingham-351452020-05-04T20:01:17Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/35145/ Managing madness, murderers and paedophiles: understanding change in the field of English forensic psychiatry McDonald, Ruth Furtado, Vivek Völlm, Birgit This paper discusses changes occurring in the field of English forensic psychiatry which appear to be linked to feelings of discomfort amongst medical professionals who manage care in such settings. These changes are neither the result of a sudden ‘shock’ to the system, nor small improvisations at the margins, but instead appear to reflect a growing perception amongst psychiatrists of accepted field practice as inadequate for some types of patients. To understand how feelings and emotions are implicated in these changes we draw on and develop the work of Pierre Bourdieu to suggest that changes must be seen in the context of field tensions, which have implications for habitus. However, we do not view feelings of discomfort merely as a response to these tensions. Instead we suggest a more dynamic process with the habitus playing a key role in structuring what people pay attention to and how they perceive it, as well as whether they experience particular feelings in the first place, therefore. Emerald 2016-09 Article PeerReviewed McDonald, Ruth, Furtado, Vivek and Völlm, Birgit (2016) Managing madness, murderers and paedophiles: understanding change in the field of English forensic psychiatry. Journal of Health Organization and Management, 164 . pp. 12-18. ISSN 1758-7247 Bourdieu; emotion; forensic psychiatry; professionals; change; mental health http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953616303653 doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.07.011 doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.07.011
spellingShingle Bourdieu; emotion; forensic psychiatry; professionals; change; mental health
McDonald, Ruth
Furtado, Vivek
Völlm, Birgit
Managing madness, murderers and paedophiles: understanding change in the field of English forensic psychiatry
title Managing madness, murderers and paedophiles: understanding change in the field of English forensic psychiatry
title_full Managing madness, murderers and paedophiles: understanding change in the field of English forensic psychiatry
title_fullStr Managing madness, murderers and paedophiles: understanding change in the field of English forensic psychiatry
title_full_unstemmed Managing madness, murderers and paedophiles: understanding change in the field of English forensic psychiatry
title_short Managing madness, murderers and paedophiles: understanding change in the field of English forensic psychiatry
title_sort managing madness, murderers and paedophiles: understanding change in the field of english forensic psychiatry
topic Bourdieu; emotion; forensic psychiatry; professionals; change; mental health
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/35145/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/35145/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/35145/