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Abstract
This article focuses on 520 persons – the 139 psychiatrists (102 men and 37 women), the 196 psychologists (103 men and 93 women) and the 185 social scientists, nurses and others (105 men and 80 women) – who were either successful applicants to the NHS Forensic Mental Health Programme over the 12-year period (1996–2007 inclusive) of its existence or had applied to the three Responsive Funding Schemes offered in 2003, 2004 and 2005 by the Programme. These persons are considered to be representative of the current forensic mental health research community in the UK. The article considers their demographic characteristics, their employment status and their academic qualifications. In terms of the future of forensic mental health research, the study suggests that the problem in the UK is likely to be maintaining the interest of these researchers in forensic matters rather than a dearth of talent.
Acknowledgements
The author thanks Adele Maggs for her help in searching out the original data for this study. The author also thanks Professor Clair Chilvers and Ms. Kathryn Harney for their support at an earlier stage of this work. The author appreciates the comments of the two anonymous reviewers.
Notes
1. A brief history of the objectives and development of the Programme is set out by Soothill et al. (Citation2008b, p. 184).
2. In addition, there were 14 physicians (eight males and six females) who were not included in this study. They were not psychiatrists and, while they could perhaps have been included in the residual group, it was felt that it was more appropriate to keep all medical practitioners and psychologists out of this residual group.
3. Some Principal Investigators obtained more than one project award during the life of the Programme.
4. See note 2.