Monstrous Crimes and the Failure of Forensic Psychiatry

Monstrous Crimes and the Failure of Forensic Psychiatry is a 2013 non-fiction book by John Douard and Pamela D. Schultz, published by Springer as volume 53 in the International Library of Ethics, Law, and the New Medicine series. The authors examine how sex offenders are framed as "monsters" and "predators" in contemporary law, media and politics, and argue that this dehumanising metaphor has shaped a punitive, preventive state in which forensic psychiatry plays a central and ethically problematic role. The book proposes a shift from this metaphor-driven approach toward a public health framework that treats offenders as heterogeneous human agents with rights and responsibilities.

Publisher's description

The metaphor of the monster or predator — usually a sexual predator, drug dealer in areas frequented by children, or psychopathic murderer — is a powerful framing device in public discourse about how the criminal justice system should respond to serious violent crimes. The cultural history of the monster reveals significant features of the metaphor that raise questions about the extent to which justice can be achieved in both the punishment of what are regarded as "monstrous crimes" and the treatment of those who commit such crimes.

This book is the first to address the connections between the history of the monster metaphor, the 19th century idea of the criminal as monster, and the 20th century conception of the psychopath: the new monster. The book addresses, in particular, the ways in which the metaphor is used to scapegoat certain categories of crimes and criminals for anxieties about our own potential for deviant, and, indeed, dangerous interests. These interests have long been found to be associated with the fascination people have for monsters in most cultures, including the West.

The book outlines an alternative public health approach to sex offending, and crime in general, that can incorporate what we know about illness prevention while protecting the rights, and humanity, of offenders.

The book concludes with an analysis of the role of forensic psychiatrists and psychologists in representing criminal defendants as psychopaths, or persons with certain personality disorders. As psychiatry and psychology have transformed bad behavior into mad behavior, these institutions have taken on the legal role of helping to sort out the most dangerous among us for preventive "treatment" rather than carceral "punishment."

Chapter summaries

• Chapter 1 — Framing, Metaphor, and the Construction of the Monster

This chapter explains how cognitive metaphors—especially “monster” and “predator”—structure public understanding of sexual crimes and legitimate extraordinary state control.

• Chapter 2 — A Brief History of Monstrousness and Social Panic

The authors trace how societies historically created categories of “monsters” during periods of fear and uncertainty, linking these patterns to modern moral panics about sexual violence.

• Chapter 3 — The Rise of Sex-Offender Policy and the Logic of Exceptionalism

This chapter analyzes how highly publicized child-victim cases drove the development of exceptional, fear-driven legislation such as registries, community notification, and residency restrictions.

• Chapter 4 — Heterogeneity Behind the Monster: What the Data Actually Show

The authors review empirical research demonstrating that sex offenders are a heterogeneous population with varied motivations and comparatively low average recidivism, contradicting the monster narrative.

• Chapter 5 — Neuroscience, Psychopathy, and the Search for the “Monster Within”

This chapter critiques the growing reliance on brain imaging and psychopathy discourse as scientific-sounding justifications for essentialist, predetermined dangerousness.

• Chapter 6 — Forensic Psychiatry and the Failure of Expert Knowledge

The authors argue that forensic psychiatric testimony often overstates predictive accuracy and aligns with punitive state interests, thereby reinforcing rather than challenging the monster frame.

• Chapter 7 — Civil Commitment and the Preventive State

This chapter examines how civil commitment statutes for “sexually violent predators” rely on weak scientific criteria, expanding the state’s power to confine people indefinitely on the basis of feared future harm.

• Chapter 8 — Toward a Public-Health Model of Sexual-Violence Prevention

The authors propose shifting from demonization and incapacitation toward a multi-level prevention model that treats offenders as human agents and focuses on early intervention, situational prevention, and reintegration.

See also

• Adverse effects of hysteria

External links

• Monstrous Crimes and the Failure of Forensic Psychiatry at Anna's archive