The Sunday Times bestselling author of The Devil You Know and leading forensic psychiatrist Dr Gwen Adshead reckons with our attitudes towards violence and punishment.
'A bold message.' Sunday Times
Is violence normal? Is evil ever a useful concept? Does trauma cause it? And can we change violent minds?
For Dr Gwen Adshead, these are the most common questions she is asked about her work as a psychiatrist and psychotherapist in secure hospitals and prisons. Her answers are drawn from over 30 years of working with violence perpetrators, and the insights she has gained from listening to the stories of those who have committed acts of violence and cruelty.
Adshead pays attention to an aspect of humanity we often find hard to comprehend and invites us to do the same as she considers the motivations, the risk factors, the social roots of violence and the rehabilitation of perpetrators. Compassion is central to Adshead's approach as she delves into the development of the mind and deepens our understanding of the human capacity for cruelty but also for change. Expanding on her galvanising 2024 Reith Lectures and including a new essay on good mental health, this is a potent, humane and transformative read.
**Gwen Adshead's new book Unspeakable: The Language of Trauma and Healing will publish in February 2026**
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The Sunday Times bestselling author of The Devil You Know and leading forensic psychiatrist Dr Gwen Adshead reckons with our attitudes towards violence and punishment.
Dr Gwen Adshead trained at St George's Hospital, the Institute of Psychiatry and the Institute of Group Analysis. She has worked as a forensic psychiatrist and psychotherapist in the NHS for nearly three decades, within prisons, at secure hospitals including Broadmoor, and in the community. She has published over one hundred academic works; she holds an MA in Medical Law and Ethics as well as an honorary doctorate from St George's Hospital Medical School and has lectured widely, including as a visiting professor at Yale and as the Gresham College Professor of Psychiatry. In 2013, she was honoured with the Royal College of Psychiatry's President's Medal. She is the co-author of the Sunday Times bestseller The Devil You Know: Encounters in Forensic Psychiatry.
