Madness and Murder : John Wiley & Sons, Inc. : 9781861561640 : 1861561644 : 15 Jul 2000 : Murder is the most malevolent of acts by humans. Not only does the slaying of a man, woman or child destroy a life, but it ravages the lives of all those associated with the person who has been killed, and foments the collective angst of the community. But the mad who kill are placed in a different socio-legal category to that of ?normal' murderers. Those regarded as insane, either at the time of their improbity or after the event, are propelled into a distinct and discreditable stratum of deviancy. They are 'unreasonably' dangerous. These miscreants are construed as 'double-trouble' - mad and bad! Is there justifiable (if exaggerated) anxiety about dangerous mentally disordered people being 'loose' in the community? Is there a genuine need to protect both society at large and the mad? Does public concern about the homicidal tendencies of the mentally disordered warrant emphatic social interventio