Leighton C. Whitaker – författare

No diagnosis of mental disorder is more important or more disputable than that of "schizophrenia." The 1982 case of John Hinckley, who shot President Reagan, brought both aspects of this diagnostic dilemma to the forefront of national attention. It became evident to the general public that the experts engaged to study him exhaustively could not agree on whether Hinckley was schizophrenic. General public outrage ensued, as schizophrenia, "the sacred symbol of psychiatry," in the words of Thomas Szasz (1976), emerged as a king of Alice in Wonderland travesty. Schizo­ phrenia seemed not to be a legitimate diagnostic entity but some sort of facade erected to protect the guilty. In 1973, David Rosenhan had already shown the readers of Science that schizo­ phrenia was a label that could be given to normal people presenting with a supposed auditory hallucination on even one occasion. In Rosenhan's studies, mental health professionals were outclassed by the regular psychiatric hospital patients, who cor­ rectly saw the false schizophrenics as imposters while the professional diagnosticians continued to fool themselves.

More violence has been perpetrated in the 20th century than in the two previous centuries combined. Understanding and Preventing Violence: Unmasking the Mentality of Human Destructiveness elucidates the mentality of destructive behavior with the hopes that in the future, the trend may be reversed through enlightenment. But in order to choose to be constructive, rather than destructive, there must first be an understanding.This book takes a hard look at an alarming trend. It provides a focused view of the new wave of violence - from the individual to the global levels. It. traces the influence of sexuality and the anxiety of death on human mentality and suggests ways to reverse the increase in destructive behavior. It helps criminologists with profiling and spotting trends and aids psychologists by deepening the understanding of their severely character-disordered or sociopathic patients.The author delves into the reasons and motivations prompting destructive behavior in order topromote a constructive reaction to what has become commonplace in society - senseless violent acts.Aimed at forensic and clinical psychologists, sociologists, criminal defense attorneys and criminologists, Leighton C. Whitaker delivers a work that provides an understanding of the psychodynamics of violence and the role it plays in society.