Forensic psychiatric nursing: visions of social control

Forensic nursing is a relatively recent, and fast developing, specialization within the wider field of psychiatry. The construction of professional practice at the interface of medical and legal services reflects larger ideological shifts in the management of human difference. Central to this trend is the posited relationship between mental disorder and criminality. The expanding loci of forensic expertise, beyond traditional institutional and health service settings, calls for a critical appraisal of present and proposed provision. Focusing on the British experience, in particular, this paper outlines the historical development of treatment for disordered offenders and explores contemporary initiatives. Deployment of nursing staff in the community, police stations, law courts and prisons, as an adjunct of medicalized crime, confuses further professional care with political control. The main conclusions presented are that the encroachment of psychiatry can be understood in terms of surveillance and social control. It is essential that nurses working in this field are aware of the power/knowledge equation that frames their practice, research and education. The penetration of forensic nursing into realms of society otherwise bereft of psychiatric intervention can be seen to have a darker dimension.