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An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including criminal justice, forensic mental health workers, and child sexual abuse.

This contribution attempts to explore the use of a variety of literary sources as aids or 'prompts' to understanding those offenders and offender-patients whose mental states often raise considerable anxieties in those charged with their management. The word 'prompt' is borrowed from the work of my friend, the late doctor Murray Cox, and his co-worker Alice Theilgaard in their seminal work Shakespeare as Prompter (1994). The author of the present article hopes that its content will enable readers to focus more clearly on why we sometimes fail our offenders and offender-patients; in particular, through the mechanism of denial. The use of dramatic presentation when proffered with a unique blend of force and sensitivity can permit us to view puzzlement and horror from a safe distance and, at the same time, encourage us to increase our empathic understanding and professional practice. Most of the examples cited are brief allusions but, because her history is so compellingly applicable to our concerns in the present contribution, the 'case' of Lady Macbeth is considered in more detail. Finally, I would note some very wise words by Cox and Theilgaard (1994) in a caveat note to the reader: 'Should the focus on therapy ever become occluded by preoccupation with poetic association, clinical skills would be diminished, distraction ensue and therapeutic contact deteriorate' (not numbered). In the material that follows readers should bear such a cautionary note in mind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the Mental Health Act 2007 in relation to Mental Health Act in 1959 and 1983 in the U.S. It is stated that the 1959 Act introduced several important innovations such as the power for magistrates and the introduction of Mental Health Review Tribunals. It also introduced definitions of mental disorder and its sub-categories. Meanwhile, the 1983 Act launched the Mental Health Act Commission with the significant function to examine complaints from detained patients. Both Bills received considerable mauling in the parliamentary process which suggested an analogy akin to that of matrimony. Some forensic aspects of the 2007 Act were also presented. It made many useful amendments to previous legislation.

This contribution is essentially a highly selective, personal and anecdotal account of some 55 years' experience of working in the criminal justice and forensic-psychiatric (mental health) fields. It makes no pretence of being an academic presentation; thus only a modest number of references are cited in the text. The article makes no attempt at being all-inclusive; for this reason it could be criticised for being somewhat idiosyncratic. Those seeking further information concerning some of the examples cited may care to consult the brief personal bibliography at the end of the text and the references. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Replies to Hans Schanda's questions regarding the reluctance of psychiatrists to deal with mentally ill offenders. Open-door policies; Characteristics of consultant forensic psychiatrists; Emergence of degree of obsessionality and lateral thinking.

A response by Herschel Prins to a letter to the editor about his article "Decline of the English inquiry" published in the previous issue is presented.