Routledge Reconstructing Schizophrenia

`The summaries of evidence have provided ready-made challenges to previously unquestioned medical options ... the book provides a challenging update on the nature of scientific inquiry.' - British Journal of Clinical Psychology Despite nearly one hundred years of research, very little progress has been achieved in the understanding of schizophrenic behaviour. There remains considerable uncertainty even about the fundamental features of the hypothesised illness. Reconstructing Schizophrenia subjects the difficult concept of schizophrenia to rigorous scientific, historical and sociological scrutiny. They ask why a biological defect has been assumed in the absence of hard evidence and look at what can be done psychologically to alleviate schizophrenic symptoms. Finally, they explore what new models and research strategies are required in order to understand schizophrenic behaviour. The result is a book that provides a distinctive and critical perspective on modern psychiatric theories and which demonstrates the severe limitations of an exclusively medical approach to understanding madness. Review `... an essential textbook for both the practitioner and student of mental health and schizophrenia.' - Community Care `... challenges and educates.' - British Journal of Medical Psychology `This is an excellent book ... It is well worth reading by those seriously interested in, and those diagnosed as suffering from, schizophrenia.' - The Irish Journal of Psychology '... stimulating and thought-provoking' - British Journal of Clinical Psychology `This book is superb - such a stimulating collection of essays that taken together really open up the subject of schizophrenia and its relationship with psychiatry.' - David Hewison, Neighbourhood Services Training, London Borough of Islington `... everyone interested in mental health, mental health care or working in the field or with some personal experience of "schizophrenia" should read this book.' - Medical Sociology News About the Author Richard Bentall is Lecturer in Clinical Psychology at the University of Liverpool.