Psychiatric Aspects of Justification, Excuse and Mitigation in Anglo-Ame

The theory of justification and excuse; psychiatric aspects of mitigation; how can mental states excuse?; what does the law allow to excuse?; drawbacks of the present provision; alternatives to the present provision.

Buchanan's critique of the legal provisions for mentally disordered individuals drew on many fine resources-philosophical, jurisprudential, legal, and psychological and psychiatric-and I found myself going back and forth in the book checking references constantly. The book is a fine example of good research and philosophical even-handedness. It provides copious references to important legal cases as well as other works relevant to the conceptualization of the current provisions concerning the psychiatrically disordered. For this reason, his work is a useful resource for those unfamiliar with the legal and philosophical bases for the legal provisions in the Anglo-American tradition. But more than that, his work is a provocative assessment of the current provisions governing the distribution of punishment for disordered individuals. Buchanan's book would be of interest to anyone who would like to know about the origins of Anglo-American juridical processes concerning psychiatric matters and would be of interest to those who are especially interested in reading a critique of these laws. It is a finely structured work, well articulated, and provocative. I have only the highest of praise for his accomplishment. Anyone interested in learning about this profoundly important topic would find this book a worthy place to begin.'