Margins
The Devil You Know book cover
The Devil You Know
Stories of Human Cruelty and Compassion
2021
First Published
4.33
Average Rating
360
Number of Pages

In eleven vivid narratives based on decades of providing therapy to people in prisons and secure hospitals, an internationally renowned forensic psychiatrist and psychotherapist demonstrates the remarkable human capacity for radical empathy, change, and redemption. What drives someone to commit an act of terrible violence? Drawing from her thirty years’ experience in working with people who have committed serious offenses, Dr. Gwen Adshead provides fresh and surprising insights into violence and the mind. Through a collaboration with coauthor Eileen Horne, Dr. Adshead brings her extraordinary career to life in a series of unflinching portraits. Alongside doctor and patient, we discover what human cruelty, ranging from serial homicide to stalking, arson or sexual offending, means to perpetrators, experiencing first-hand how minds can change when the people some might label as “evil” are able to take responsibility for their life stories and get to know their own minds. With outcomes ranging from hope to despair, from denial to recovery, these men and women are revealed in all their complexity and shared humanity.

Avg Rating
4.33
Number of Ratings
9,307
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3 STARS
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Authors

Gwen Adshead
Author · 3 books

Dr Gwen Adshead is Visiting Gresham Professor of Psychiatry and currently consultant forensic psychiatrist at Ravenswood House. Prior to this post, she worked at Broadmoor Hospital from 1996, first as Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist, and then as a Consultant in Forensic Psychotherapy. In her role as both a forensic psychiatrist and psychotherapist, Professor Adshead has tried to understand the psychological mechanisms that give rise to violence and life threatening behaviour toward others. She has worked as a member of a therapeutic team whose role is to rehabilitate and offer secure psychiatric care to some of the most vilified and socially rejected members of society. Professor Adshead qualified in medicine in 1983 and was elected member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in 1987 before being made a Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in 2005. She has a Masters’ Degree in medical Law & Ethics; is a qualified member of the Institute of Group Analysis; and holds a Master’s Degree in Mindfulness based Cognitive therapy. In 2013 she was awarded the Jochelson visiting professorship at Yale School of Law & Psychiatry and later that year, was awarded the President’s medal for her work in ethics in mental health. She has over 20 years practice in the NHS and has contributed to the work of the Royal College of Psychiatrists as chair of their Ethics Committee; and she has also contributed to Department of Health policy in relation to abnormal maternal illness behaviour. Professor Adshead also has particular expertise in the assessment and treatment of doctors whose behaviour has caused them to be in conflict with others. She has set up a group called Mindfulness for Doctors, which aims to build resilience in doctors. Her extensive research interests include abnormal illness behaviour, professional ethics and boundaries in mental health, and attachment theory. In addition to being a practising clinician, Professor Adshead has authored over 100 academic papers in books and journals. She is a regular guest on radio and television, where she has discussed issues as diverse as criminal mental health and her “Desert Island Discs”. She regularly teaches medical students, psychiatric trainees and presents at conferences nationally and internationally. She is the co-editor of several books including Ethical Issues in Forensic Mental Health Research (with Dr Christine Brown); A Matter of Security: The Application of Attachment Theory to Forensic Psychiatry and Psychotherapy (with Professor Friedmann Pffafflin) and Personality disorder: the definitive collection (with Dr Caroline Jacob). Her most recent book, Clinical topics in personality Disorder (co-edited with Dr Jay Sarkar) was awarded first prize in the Psychiatry Section at the BMA Book Awards in 2013. In her role as Visiting Gresham Professor of Psychiatry, Dr Adshead will present a series of lectures under the title Things of Darkness, based on a quote from The Tempest: ‘These things of darkness, I acknowledge mine’ in the 2014/15 academic year. Professor Adshead continues her role as Visiting Gresham Professor of Psychiatry with a series of lectures for the 2015/16 academic year entitled Changing Minds.

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