Friday 19th July 13:00-17:00

Forensic Research Nottingham Summer Symposium

Ethical and Philosophical Issues in Forensic Mental Health: how can these help inform our clinical practices?

Forensic mental health services face unique ethical challenges. They must negotiate the interface between criminal justice and other agencies and have dual responsibilities to patients and to the state, which raises many potential conflicts. Forensic practitioners also provide expert opinion to the criminal justice system, which means navigating the role of expert witness alongside that of clinician. Underpinning these issues are ethical and philosophical frameworks, including utilitarian and deontological approaches, which can lead to further tensions.

In this symposium, we will take a deep dive into some of the big questions that inform, or should inform, our everyday practice. How ethical are many of our restrictive practices? To what extent do concerns for the greater good justify all, or any, of these? What is the nature of criminal responsibility and how much should practitioners be involved in this? How might neuroscience and other research help clarify these issues and guide our work? Speakers will include academic ethicists as well as a clinician with extensive experience in complex expert opinion work and the associated ethical issues.

Forensic Research Nottingham (FRN) is a research group based at the Institute of Mental Health with links to Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Nottingham.

The group’s members include researchers in neuroscience, clinical and epidemiological psychiatry, clinicians working in forensic settings, and academics in multiple related fields including criminology, health and justice, and human rights.

View the event flyer here

Ticket costs:

£50 full price

£30 for Forensic Research Nottingham Group members & Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust staff

£20 for students

(This is an in-person event and will not be recorded or available to watch live online)

• To book a ticket to attend this event, please purchase one here
• If you are a NottsHC employee, please register using this online form and we will process your £30 ticket internally.

The full symposium programme will be released soon.