The Devil You Know
Encounters in Forensic Psychiatry
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4.5 • 33 Ratings
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- £8.99
Publisher Description
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER BY THE 2024 BBC REITH LECTURER
**Dr Gwen Adshead and Eileen Horne's new book, Unspeakable, is available for pre-order now**
'Compassionate and fascinating.' GUARDIAN
'Extraordinary.' THE TIMES
'Recalibrated my empathy dial.' NEW STATESMAN
'Fascinating.' SUNDAY TIMES
'Deeply humane.' IRISH TIMES
'Exceptional.' VAL McDERMID
'Extraordinary.' SEBASTIAN FAULKS
'Enlightening.' PHILIPPE SANDS
'Beautifully written.' CHRISTIE WATSON
A perspective-shattering work into the minds of violent criminals that reveals profound consequences for human nature and society at large.
Dr Gwen Adshead is one of Britain's leading forensic psychiatrists. She treats serial killers, arsonists, stalkers, gang members and other individuals who are usually labelled 'monsters'. Whatever their crime, she listens to their stories and helps them to better understand their terrible acts of violence. Here Adshead invites the reader to step with her into the room to meet twelve patients and discover how minds can change. These men and women are revealed in all their complexity and shared humanity. Their stories make a powerful case for rehabilitation over revenge, compassion over condemnation. The Devil You Know will challenge everything you thought you knew about human nature.
Readers are saying:
'Remarkable and humane . . . compassionate and full of wisdom.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'Empathy and understanding shine through . . . not just informative but also deeply moving.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'Shows us how to be human, how to be empathetic in the most challenging of circumstances . . . essential reading.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'Can't really think of a downside at the moment . . . a gem of a read.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'I was gripped . . . I am left full of admiration.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'Thoughtful, thought-provoking and challenging . . . I really enjoyed this.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'Personal and candid . . . This will stay with me for a long time.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Gwen Adshead and Eileen Horne's book The Devil You Know was a Sunday Times Bestseller w/c 02-07-2022
Gwen Adshead and Eileen Horne's book The Devil You Know was a Sunday Times Bestseller w/c 09-07-2022
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
This is a bold and important inspection of mental health and its provisions in modern Britain. Forensic psychiatrist Dr Gwen Adshead (assisted by Eileen Horne) delves into this incendiary subject with a part-memoir, part-case study approach, considering the spectre of violent crime, the reaches of human empathy and the demonisation and abandonment of convicted criminals. Adshead has personally treated a challenging roster of patients—murderers, serial killers and child sex offenders—whose case files make for uneasy reading. But she strives to delve deeper beyond “good” and “evil” in her probing of the people behind the crimes, appealing to our shared humanity in asking us to discover how these “monsters” are made and attempting to spark compassion, as well as a belief in considered treatment and ultimately, redemption.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This heartfelt and nuanced memoir by Adshead, a forensic psychiatrist and psychotherapist, charts her decades-long career in Britain's National Health Service treating violent offenders. With the assistance of dramatist Horne, Adshead recounts 11 cases, each a composite to protect patient privacy. She treated her first serial killer, Tony, at England's high-security Broadmoor Hospital for criminals. Having confessed to three murders, he remembered a fourth victim during talk therapy treatment. Success often meant treating suicidal convicts so they could be returned to prison to serve out their sentences or helping ex-cons return to the outside world. Some cases are tragic, some sad, and some unredeemable, such as that of Ian, who sexually abused his two sons and later committed suicide, and of Lydia, who wound up back in a mental hospital after being released from prison and attacking her therapist's staff members in his office, but the author manages to humanize her subjects and make a case for devoting more resources to the treatment of all mentally ill in prisons. In addition, Adshead explains the British health-care system and offers a brief history of psychotherapy of inmates. For those interested in the inner workings of the criminal mind, this is must reading.
Customer Reviews
Wow! I didn’t want it to end
A very good reading for those who like physiology or are curious about the mind and it’s working.
The author shows several stories from a humane point of view not to justify or excuse the perpetrators but to help understand the way minds break and how broken minds can create chaos around them. Loved the narrative, the empathy of the author and their ability to separate themselves from the situations to look at the story behind the “monster”.