People with personality disorders are to be found in all branches of psychiatric services, from the outpatient and community care through to acute inpatient care. Their behaviour is difficult, manipulative, threatening and they are hard to manage in institutional settings. Dangerous and Severe Personality Disorder is based on unique research study conducted in the three English high security hospitals - Ashworth, Rampton and Broadmoor. Through in-depth analysis of an extensive questionnaire survey followed by personal interviews, Len Bowers shows how positive or negative attitudes to PD patients arise and are maintained over time, as well as discusses what impact they have upon nurses and the care they provide to patients, and draws some practical conclusions.

The difficulties facing staff who care for and treat PD patients are enormous, and constitute a significant personal challenge for the psychiatric professional of any discipline. For the first time this book provides details of the most effective ways of creating a positive context for working with personality disorder and contains a blueprint for training and organisational structures across the professional spectrum.