People from ethnic minorities are over-represented in secure psychiatric care, and have been reported to receive differential treatment from staff. It has been suggested that these people (especially Afro-Caribbean groups) suffer from prejudicial legal, criminal justice and psychiatric system. This text questions whether Western, white-oriented practice and systems of belief can, or should, be applied to service users from other cultural, racial, ethical or spiritual backgrounds. Contributors examine and explore the central and theoretic issues, such as culture, power, difference and participation and relate them to examples of practice, and to the improvement of future service provision.
Part 1 Structures and power: an epidemiological perspective, Veena Soni Raleigh; historical development, Suman Fernando; differences in culture and ritual, Quintin Deeley; issues of racism in a secure environemnt, Annie Bartlett; a patient's perspective, anonymous. Part 2 Seeking a better balance: developing a mental health service for ethnic minorities, Albert Persaud; supporting black patients in a secure setting, Chinyere Inyama; mental health law and the ethnic minorities, William Bingley; change and progress - the right pace?, Georgina Linton. Part 3 Clinical perspective: fair treatment for black minority patients in secure care, Chandra Ghosh; black men in Broadmoor Hospital, Stan Grant; providing clinical care for black patients, Harvey Gordon; black staff and their experience, Krishnan Gnanasekaran. Part 4 Services for women: a community service for black women, Marcia Rice; black women patients in the forensic service, Margaret Orr; Asian women and community care, Alia Khan; a patient's viewpoint, anonymous. Part 5 Effecting change: befriending patients, Elaine Elvey; measuring progress, Jane Mackenzie and Carol Rudmore; progress in Broadmoor Hospital, Tony Lingiah; meeting the special needs of Muslim patients, Nizal Boga; making policy work, Jayne Hayes.
Kaye and Lingiah have done justice to this most difficult of issues facing secure psychiatric services. The justice concerns the three main aspects of this book. The first relates to the way the contributors approach their topic, in a bright, refreshing yet serious manner that adds a ""newness"" to the debate. Second, they do not shirk the sensitive issue of the relationship between cultural difference and societal expectations. Rather than simply laying blame for failings, the contributors discuss the issues of causation in a thoughtful and provocative way. Third, they attempt to provide some suggestions as to how we may begin to address the problems of prejudice in forensic practice, and these suggestions are practical and realistic.The editors should be applauded for producing such a well structured and meaningful text that focuses fresh attention on a longstanding problem. The structure is logical, dealing first with structures and power relating to the notion of difference and moving on to cover ways of achieving a better balance via change and development.'
