Abstract
Incidents like the shootings in Arizona earlier this year bring to public attention the fact that there are members of our society who are mentally disturbed and who also may commit sometimes serious crimes. Although most of the debate centers on how to prevent these crimes, the fact that these perpetrators have to be cared for remains. Forensic psychiatric nurses care for clients who have broken the law, sometimes through committing crimes that are heinous and grab the public’s attention. When public interest has waned, these clients still need psychiatric treatment, often for very long periods, and sometimes for the remainder of their lives. Once high-profile offenders are imprisoned or placed in forensic inpatient settings, any remaining public attention is typically on victims and on prevention strategies—How can we recognize “disturbed” individuals before they commit such atrocities? What went wrong? Relative to the incarcerated offender, the public breathes a collective sigh of relief—out of sight, out of mind. On the other end of the public attention spectrum, perpetrators of crimes known only to the victims and the legal system are considered criminals first, mentally ill
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