Wild Man: The True Story of a Police Killing, Mental Illness and The Law

Simmonds, AP

Wild Man: The True Story of a Police Killing, Mental Illness and The Law

Simmonds, AP

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Publisher:: Affirm Press
Citation:: 2015, pp. 1 - 260
Issue Date:: 2015

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Simmonds, AP https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8204-2321	en_US
dc.date.issued	2015	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	2015, pp. 1 - 260	en_US
dc.identifier.isbn	9781922213686	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/122709
dc.description.abstract	Wild Man is a work of narrative non-fiction that interrogates the relationship between mental illness, masculinities and the law. Research Background As numerous scholars have noted, Australia lacks a history of deinstitutionalization. Following Stephen Garton’s book Medicine and Madness: A Social History of Insanity in NSW 1880-1940 (1988), there have only been a scattering of articles across history, sociology and law about what happened when we released people from asylums but failed to fund community care (See for example,: Janice Chesters, ‘Deinstitutionalisation: An Unrealised Desire’, Health Sociology Review: Closing Asylums for the Mentally Ill: Social Consequences, 2005; Catharine Coleborne and Dolly MacKinnon, Madness in Australia: Histories, Heritage and the Asylum, 2003; Barbara Taylor, ‘The Demise of the Asylum’, Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, 2011). Furthermore, what exists is often parceled into discrete disciplinary interests. Scholars in law and psychiatry are concerned with contemporary issues in the practice and governance of psychiatry (see for example: Terry Carney, Australian Mental Health Tribunals: Space for Fairness, Freedom, Protection and Treatment? (2011); Doessel, DP (et al) ‘Changes in private sector electroconvulsive treatment in Australia’, Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, April 2006.) Scholars in sociology and history have charted the social construction of madness (See: Peter Sedgwick, Psychopolitics, 1982; L Erving Goffman, Asylums: Essays on the Social Situations of Mental Patients and Other Inmates, 1961; Michel Foucault, Madness and Civilization, 1965; Thomas Szasz, The Myth of Mental Illness: Foundations of a Theory of Personal Conduct, 1961; Stijn Vanheule, Diagnosis and the DSM: A Critical Review, 2014). And a very small body of literature has emerged on caregivers for people with mental illness: (Jacqueline M Atkinson and Denise A Coia, Families Coping with Schizophrenia: A Practitioner’s Guide to Family Groups, 1995; Arthur Frank, At the Will of the Body: Reflections on Illness, 1991; David Karp, The Burden of Sympathy: How Families Cope with Mental Illness, 2001). Given that there is very little conversation across these disciplinary fields, our knowledge of how mental illness intersects with policing, community care, the feminization of care work and constructions of masculinity is limited. Wild Man is an inter-disciplinary contribution to these fields of knowledge. Research Contribution Through a bottom-up case study of one man’s life and death, Wild Man draws together the aforementioned disparate fields of inquiry into mental health - from government policy and law to feminist theories of care - to offer an intimate account of Australia’s mental health policy in historical and legal perspective. I argue that the death of Ryan Pringle at the hands of the state must be attributed to three intersecting factors: our underfunded system of community care, the effect of deinstitutionalisation on communities (particularly women), and the role police are currently forced to play on the frontline of mental illness. I translate the raw facts of Australia’s crisis in mental health funding – the reduction from 30,000 psychiatric beds in the 1960s to just under 2000 public psychiatric beds today – into a personal narrative form. When the subject of my book, Ryan Pringle, failed to receive the treatment he needed, his family and partner were left performing an impossible labour of care: unpaid, untrained and vulnerable to violence. This book questions civil libertarian approaches to community care, but also acknowledges the limits of custodial care. Its contribution to government policy is to argue, ultimately for increased preventative care facilities in the community, more psychiatric beds in hospitals, step-down accommodation, integrated drug and alcohol rehabilitation services and better vocational support. (See: http://www.health.gov.au/internet/publications/publishing.nsf/Content/ mental-pubs-n-report10-toc~mental-pubs-n-report10-a~mental-pubs-n-report10-a-3 Research Significance Wild Man was listed as one of the top ten crime books of 2015 by critic Fiona Hardy (http://www.readings.com.au/news/the-best-crime-books-of-2015) and was nominated as the book of the week by Fiona Capp in the Sydney Morning Herald “With skill, tact and empathy, Simmonds probes the complex dynamics that shape our perception and policing of madness.” It has also received positive reviews on a number of popular book blogs. Wild Man was launched at the Melbourne Writer’s Festival by Ann Manne and I have been invited to speak on a panel and to conduct a masterclass on creative non-fiction at the 2016 Sydney Writer’s Festival. I was also flown to Melbourne to speak about the book at the National Narrative Non-Fiction Festival, and I have given extensive interviews for the book on ABC’s Life Matters, Drive and Overnights.	en_US
dc.publisher	Affirm Press	en_US
dc.title	Wild Man: The True Story of a Police Killing, Mental Illness and The Law	en_US
utslib.location	Melbourne	en_US
utslib.for	1801 Law	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Law
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access
pubs.consider-herdc	true	en_US
pubs.place-of-publication	Melbourne	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.rights-statement	Wild Man is a work of narrative non-fiction that interrogates the relationship between mental illness, masculinities and the law. Research Background As numerous scholars have noted, Australia lacks a history of deinstitutionalization. Following Stephen Garton’s book Medicine and Madness: A Social History of Insanity in NSW 1880-1940 (1988), there have only been a scattering of articles across history, sociology and law about what happened when we released people from asylums but failed to fund community care (See for example,: Janice Chesters, ‘Deinstitutionalisation: An Unrealised Desire’, Health Sociology Review: Closing Asylums for the Mentally Ill: Social Consequences, 2005; Catharine Coleborne and Dolly MacKinnon, Madness in Australia: Histories, Heritage and the Asylum, 2003; Barbara Taylor, ‘The Demise of the Asylum’, Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, 2011). Furthermore, what exists is often parceled into discrete disciplinary interests. Scholars in law and psychiatry are concerned with contemporary issues in the practice and governance of psychiatry (see for example: Terry Carney, Australian Mental Health Tribunals: Space for Fairness, Freedom, Protection and Treatment? (2011); Doessel, DP (et al) ‘Changes in private sector electroconvulsive treatment in Australia’, Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, April 2006.) Scholars in sociology and history have charted the social construction of madness (See: Peter Sedgwick, Psychopolitics, 1982; L Erving Goffman, Asylums: Essays on the Social Situations of Mental Patients and Other Inmates, 1961; Michel Foucault, Madness and Civilization, 1965; Thomas Szasz, The Myth of Mental Illness: Foundations of a Theory of Personal Conduct, 1961; Stijn Vanheule, Diagnosis and the DSM: A Critical Review, 2014). And a very small body of literature has emerged on caregivers for people with mental illness: (Jacqueline M Atkinson and Denise A Coia, Families Coping with Schizophrenia: A Practitioner’s Guide to Family Groups, 1995; Arthur Frank, At the Will of the Body: Reflections on Illness, 1991; David Karp, The Burden of Sympathy: How Families Cope with Mental Illness, 2001). Given that there is very little conversation across these disciplinary fields, our knowledge of how mental illness intersects with policing, community care, the feminization of care work and constructions of masculinity is limited. Wild Man is an inter-disciplinary contribution to these fields of knowledge. Research Contribution Through a bottom-up case study of one man’s life and death, Wild Man draws together the aforementioned disparate fields of inquiry into mental health - from government policy and law to feminist theories of care - to offer an intimate account of Australia’s mental health policy in historical and legal perspective. I argue that the death of Ryan Pringle at the hands of the state must be attributed to three intersecting factors: our underfunded system of community care, the effect of deinstitutionalisation on communities (particularly women), and the role police are currently forced to play on the frontline of mental illness. I translate the raw facts of Australia’s crisis in mental health funding – the reduction from 30,000 psychiatric beds in the 1960s to just under 2000 public psychiatric beds today – into a personal narrative form. When the subject of my book, Ryan Pringle, failed to receive the treatment he needed, his family and partner were left performing an impossible labour of care: unpaid, untrained and vulnerable to violence. This book questions civil libertarian approaches to community care, but also acknowledges the limits of custodial care. Its contribution to government policy is to argue, ultimately for increased preventative care facilities in the community, more psychiatric beds in hospitals, step-down accommodation, integrated drug and alcohol rehabilitation services and better vocational support. (See: http://www.health.gov.au/internet/publications/publishing.nsf/Content/ mental-pubs-n-report10-toc~mental-pubs-n-report10-a~mental-pubs-n-report10-a-3 Research Significance Wild Man was listed as one of the top ten crime books of 2015 by critic Fiona Hardy (http://www.readings.com.au/news/the-best-crime-books-of-2015) and was nominated as the book of the week by Fiona Capp in the Sydney Morning Herald “With skill, tact and empathy, Simmonds probes the complex dynamics that shape our perception and policing of madness.” It has also received positive reviews on a number of popular book blogs. Wild Man was launched at the Melbourne Writer’s Festival by Ann Manne and I have been invited to speak on a panel and to conduct a masterclass on creative non-fiction at the 2016 Sydney Writer’s Festival. I was also flown to Melbourne to speak about the book at the National Narrative Non-Fiction Festival, and I have given extensive interviews for the book on ABC’s Life Matters, Drive and Overnights.	en_US
pubs.rights-statement	Background: Australia lacks a history of deinstitutionalization. Following Garton’s book Medicine and Madness: A Social History of Insanity in NSW 1880-1940 (1988), there have only been a scattering of articles across history, sociology and law about what happened when we released people from asylums but failed to fund community care. Wild Man is an inter-disciplinary contribution to these fields of knowledge. Contribution: Wild Man draws together the aforementioned disparate fields of inquiry into mental health - from government policy and law to feminist theories of care - to offer an intimate account of Australia’s mental health policy in historical and legal perspective. I argue that the death of Ryan Pringle at the hands of the state must be attributed to three intersecting factors: our underfunded system of community care, the effect of deinstitutionalisation on communities (particularly women), and the role police are currently forced to play on the frontline of mental illness. I translate the raw facts of Australia’s crisis in mental health funding – the reduction from 30000 psychiatric beds in the ‘60s to just under 2000 today – into a personal narrative form. When Ryan Pringle failed to receive the treatment he needed, his family and partner were left performing an impossible labour of care: unpaid, untrained and vulnerable to violence. This book questions civil libertarian approaches to community care, but also acknowledges the limits of custodial care. Its contribution to government policy is to argue, ultimately for increased preventative care facilities in the community, more psychiatric beds in hospitals, step-down accommodation, integrated drug and alcohol rehabilitation services and better vocational support. Significance: Listed as one of the top ten crime books of 2015 by critic Fiona Hardy and nominated as book of the week by Fiona Capp in the SMH “With skill, tact and empathy, Simmonds probes the complex dynamics that shape our perception and policing of madness.” Launched at the Melbourne Writer’s Festival by Ann Manne and I have been invited to speak on a panel and to conduct a masterclass on creative non-fiction at the 2016 Sydney Writer’s Festival. I also spoke about the book at the National Narrative Non-Fiction Festival, and given interviews for the book on ABC’s Life Matters, Drive and Overnights.	en_US
pubs.rights-statement	Background: Australia lacks a history of deinstitutionalization. Following Garton’s Medicine and Madness: A Social History of Insanity in NSW 1880-1940 (1988), there have only been a scattering of articles across history, sociology and law about what happened when we released people from asylums but failed to fund community care. Wild Man is an inter-disciplinary contribution to these fields of knowledge. Contribution: Wild Man draws together disparate fields of inquiry from government policy and law to feminist theories of care - to offer an intimate account of Australia’s mental health policy in historical and legal perspective. I argue that the death of Ryan Pringle at the hands of the state must be attributed to three intersecting factors: our underfunded system of community care, the effect of deinstitutionalisation on communities (particularly women), and the role police are currently forced to play on the frontline of mental illness. I translate the raw facts of Australia’s crisis in mental health funding – the reduction from 30000 psychiatric beds in the ‘60s to just under 2000 today – into a personal narrative form. When Ryan Pringle failed to receive the treatment he needed, his family and partner were left performing an impossible labour of care: unpaid, untrained and vulnerable to violence. This book questions civil libertarian approaches to community care, but also acknowledges the limits of custodial care. Its contribution to government policy is to argue for increased preventative care facilities in the community, more psychiatric beds in hospitals, step-down accommodation, integrated drug and alcohol rehabilitation services and better vocational support. Significance: Launched at the Melbourne Writer’s Festival. Invited to conduct a masterclass on creative non-fiction at the ‘16 Sydney Writer’s Festival. Spoke about the book at the National Narrative Non-Fiction Festival, and given interviews for the book on ABC’s Life Matters, Drive and Overnights	en_US

Abstract:

Wild Man is a work of narrative non-fiction that interrogates the relationship between mental illness, masculinities and the law. Research Background As numerous scholars have noted, Australia lacks a history of deinstitutionalization. Following Stephen Garton’s book Medicine and Madness: A Social History of Insanity in NSW 1880-1940 (1988), there have only been a scattering of articles across history, sociology and law about what happened when we released people from asylums but failed to fund community care (See for example,: Janice Chesters, ‘Deinstitutionalisation: An Unrealised Desire’, Health Sociology Review: Closing Asylums for the Mentally Ill: Social Consequences, 2005; Catharine Coleborne and Dolly MacKinnon, Madness in Australia: Histories, Heritage and the Asylum, 2003; Barbara Taylor, ‘The Demise of the Asylum’, Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, 2011). Furthermore, what exists is often parceled into discrete disciplinary interests. Scholars in law and psychiatry are concerned with contemporary issues in the practice and governance of psychiatry (see for example: Terry Carney, Australian Mental Health Tribunals: Space for Fairness, Freedom, Protection and Treatment? (2011); Doessel, DP (et al) ‘Changes in private sector electroconvulsive treatment in Australia’, Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, April 2006.) Scholars in sociology and history have charted the social construction of madness (See: Peter Sedgwick, Psychopolitics, 1982; L Erving Goffman, Asylums: Essays on the Social Situations of Mental Patients and Other Inmates, 1961; Michel Foucault, Madness and Civilization, 1965; Thomas Szasz, The Myth of Mental Illness: Foundations of a Theory of Personal Conduct, 1961; Stijn Vanheule, Diagnosis and the DSM: A Critical Review, 2014). And a very small body of literature has emerged on caregivers for people with mental illness: (Jacqueline M Atkinson and Denise A Coia, Families Coping with Schizophrenia: A Practitioner’s Guide to Family Groups, 1995; Arthur Frank, At the Will of the Body: Reflections on Illness, 1991; David Karp, The Burden of Sympathy: How Families Cope with Mental Illness, 2001). Given that there is very little conversation across these disciplinary fields, our knowledge of how mental illness intersects with policing, community care, the feminization of care work and constructions of masculinity is limited. Wild Man is an inter-disciplinary contribution to these fields of knowledge. Research Contribution Through a bottom-up case study of one man’s life and death, Wild Man draws together the aforementioned disparate fields of inquiry into mental health - from government policy and law to feminist theories of care - to offer an intimate account of Australia’s mental health policy in historical and legal perspective. I argue that the death of Ryan Pringle at the hands of the state must be attributed to three intersecting factors: our underfunded system of community care, the effect of deinstitutionalisation on communities (particularly women), and the role police are currently forced to play on the frontline of mental illness. I translate the raw facts of Australia’s crisis in mental health funding – the reduction from 30,000 psychiatric beds in the 1960s to just under 2000 public psychiatric beds today – into a personal narrative form. When the subject of my book, Ryan Pringle, failed to receive the treatment he needed, his family and partner were left performing an impossible labour of care: unpaid, untrained and vulnerable to violence. This book questions civil libertarian approaches to community care, but also acknowledges the limits of custodial care. Its contribution to government policy is to argue, ultimately for increased preventative care facilities in the community, more psychiatric beds in hospitals, step-down accommodation, integrated drug and alcohol rehabilitation services and better vocational support. (See: http://www.health.gov.au/internet/publications/publishing.nsf/Content/ mental-pubs-n-report10-toc~mental-pubs-n-report10-a~mental-pubs-n-report10-a-3 Research Significance Wild Man was listed as one of the top ten crime books of 2015 by critic Fiona Hardy (http://www.readings.com.au/news/the-best-crime-books-of-2015) and was nominated as the book of the week by Fiona Capp in the Sydney Morning Herald “With skill, tact and empathy, Simmonds probes the complex dynamics that shape our perception and policing of madness.” It has also received positive reviews on a number of popular book blogs. Wild Man was launched at the Melbourne Writer’s Festival by Ann Manne and I have been invited to speak on a panel and to conduct a masterclass on creative non-fiction at the 2016 Sydney Writer’s Festival. I was also flown to Melbourne to speak about the book at the National Narrative Non-Fiction Festival, and I have given extensive interviews for the book on ABC’s Life Matters, Drive and Overnights.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/122709