"The United States has the highest per-capita imprisonment rate in the world. In 1990, the prison population across the country jumped 8.2 percent. On an average day, 100,000 crimes are committed and over 35,000 people are arrested. The judicial and criminal justice systems are overwhelmed by this growing burden, and are ill-equipped to handle the large number of individuals who suffer from some form of mental disorder - roughly 35 percent of those currently in the criminal justice system. A lack of training and understanding has led to confusion and inadequate control in the treatment of these individuals. At what point should criminal justice personnel turn the management of these cases over to mental health professionals?" "Abnormal Behavior and the Criminal Justice System examines the issues behind the supervision of these criminals whose special needs are often neglected. Part I includes an analysis of the criminal personality and the psychopath. Drawing on the cases of such noted figures as Charles Manson, Ted Bundy, the Hillside Strangler and others, Robert G. Meyer examines different aspects of deviant personalities. These types include the Antisocial Personality Disorder, Impulse Disorders, Alcohol and Drug-Abuse Disorders, Sexual Disorders, Organic Brain Damage Disorders, and Anxiety, Dissociative, and Sleep Disorders. Part II looks at topics that are of direct application and practical consequence to the criminal justice student and practitioner. These include violence, the detection of deception, incompetency, criminal responsibility, civil commitment and the prediction of dangerousness, psychopharmacology in the criminal justice system, and specific criminal justice personnel issues."

"The detailed emphasis on behavioral descriptions, applied issues, and a practical plan for immediate implementation make this an innovative and important text. Abnormal Behavior and the Criminal Justice System will be an essential tool for both students and practitioners of criminal justice."--Jacket.