Law, Psychology, and Justice: Chaos Theory and the New (Dis)order

by Christopher R. Williams, Bruce A. Arrigo

A provocative critique of the relationship between the legal system and
psychology that uses chaos theory to offer a more humane alternative.

Law, Psychology, and Justice
charts a new and provocative direction in the area of mental health and justice studies. Relying on the science of chaos theory, the authors provide a series of compelling, clear, and concise arguments for why many of our current forensic psychology practices have failed, producing, in their wake, "illness politics." In addition, the authors explain how the interests of psychiatric citizens and the social well-being of society can be reconciled at the law-psychology divide, particularly when chaos (i.e., a mix of order and disorder) is embraced as an integral and natural, rather than disruptive and unhealthy, feature of living humanely with others. Case law illustrations are used throughout the book, grounding the more theoretically animated arguments. Issues such as the insanity defense, involuntary commitment, the right to refuse treatment, and the criteria for assessing whether a person is dangerous to self or others are discussed.

About the
Author

Christopher R.
Williams is Assistant Professor of Sociology and Criminology at State University
of West Georgia. Bruce A. Arrigo is Professor and Chair of the Criminal Justice
Department at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and the author of
several books, including Social Justice/Criminal Justice: The Maturation of
Critical Theory in Law, Crime, and Deviance and Introduction to Forensic
Psychology: Issues and Controversies in Crime and Justice.

288 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2001