Impulsivity : Theory, Assessment, and Treatment

The book contains black-and-white illustrations.

Impulsivity features prominently in contemporary descriptions of many psychiatric disorders, and is also a key element in the clinical risk assessment of violence. Thoroughly examining the nature, assessment, and treatment of impulsive conduct, this up-to-date volume brings together contributions from prominent researchers and clinicians in both mental health and correctional settings. Chapters illuminate our current understanding of impulsive behavior from conceptual, legal, and biological perspectives, and address the challenges of describing and measuring it. Special features include several invaluable 20-item checklists designed to aid in risk evaluation with mentally disordered persons, potentially suicidal correctional inmates, spousal assaulters, and sex offenders. Impulsivity provides a comprehensive overview of the current state of the research and delineates a broad, clinically pertinent agenda for future study.

Geri R. Donenberg

This book is a multidisciplinary examination of impulsivity that includes perspectives from clinical psychology, the law, social psychology, developmental psychology, criminology, and sociology. Twenty-three chapters are divided into four parts: theory and paradigms, underlying assumptions, assessment, and treatment. Chapters address a broad range of issues arising from the concept of impulsivity, such as brain impairment in impulsive individuals, the ability to predict sexual violence, assessment of risk, and links to mental illness. The book's purpose is to provide guidelines for understanding, assessing, and treating impulsivity from multiple perspectives and by knowledgeable experts in the field. By presenting a more complex view of impulsivity, the authors endeavor to help professionals work more effectively with impulsive people. These objectives are worthy. The book is written primarily for mental health and prison mental health professionals, but would appeal to those in public health, health policy, and the criminal justice system because of its integrated and multidisciplinary perspective. Contributors are mainly from Canadian universities and represent the specialties of psychiatry, psychology, and criminology. Chapters include subheadings to facilitate easy reading. There are several figures and tables to supplement the text. Reference lists are relatively current, citations are mostly from the middle to late 1980's and early 1990's. Only a subject index is provided. This monograph makes an interesting contribution to the literature. It is unique in its multidisciplinary coverage and attention to issues beyond mental health. A particularly noteworthy focus of thebook is on how impulsivity relates to violence and the law, and chapter contributors represent varied perspectives on the cause and treatment of this complex construct. Chapters vary somewhat in quality, but this book is a useful addition to the literature.

Christopher Webster, PhD, is Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychology at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia. Formerly Head of Psychology and Head of the Impulsivity Programme at the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry in Toronto and Professor of Psychiatry, Psychology and Criminology at the University of Toronto, Dr. Webster has published extensively about assessing risk of violence.

Margaret Jackson, PhD, a psychologist by training, is Professor and Director of the School of Criminology at Simon Fraser University. Formerly a Research Scientist at the Metropolitan Toronto Forensic Service (METFORS), Dr. Jackson has completed several studies on the way dangerousness is perceived by clinicians and members of the judiciary, and has written and edited several books on clinical criminology.