Introduction

Abstract

This book is dedicated to the use of coercive measures in one area of psychiatry-forensic psychiatry. Forensic psychiatry is a subspecialty of clinical psychiatry which operates at the interface between law and psychiatry. It is concerned with patients who have committed an, often serious, offence and are frequently detained in secure and mostly highly restrictive settings. The purpose of this detention is seen as twofold: care and treatment for the patient (for their own sake as well as in order to reduce future risk) and protection of the public from harm from the offender. This dual role can cause dilemmas for the practitioner who has conflicting obligations to the community, third parties, other healthcare professionals as well as the patient.