NCJ Number
154287
Journal
Law and Human Behavior Volume: 19 Issue: 1 Dated: (February 1995) Pages: 1-48
Editor(s)
T Grisso,
H J Steadman
Date Published
1995
Length
48 pages
Annotation
Seven articles describe Saleem Shah's lifetime contributions to the development of concepts and research in law and mental health, as well as his influence on the quality of forensic mental health services nationally and internationally.
Abstract
The first article introduces the special series of articles on Saleem Shah by summarizing the other six articles. The second article describes Shah's early professional years, his development of the Center for Studies of Crime and Delinquency at the National Institute of Mental Health, and his use of the Center to stimulate the growth and direction of research on law and mental health. Another article explains the ways in which Shah contributed to the improvement in the delivery of forensic mental health services in State mental health systems throughout the Nation. It also describes his impact on the development of forensic mental health law, policy, and services internationally, especially in China and the former Soviet Union. A fourth article describes Shah's vision for specialized methods needed to perform more reliable and valid forensic clinical assessments. He contributed to their development by his consultation and support as director of the Center for Studies of Crime and Delinquency, and he played a major role in their implementation in forensic mental health systems nationwide. In a review of his legacies, an article notes that he made seminal and substantive contributions to psychological knowledge, theory, and practice in corrections and the law. Current clinical practices and conceptual frames of reference in legal and correctional psychology reflect the conscience, involvements, and ideas of Shah. Other articles focus on his influence in the examination of issues in the police arrest of mentally ill offenders and the need for mental health services for jail detainees, as well as his role in the development of both policy and research on the prediction of dangerousness over two decades. References accompany each article.