Annie Bartlett is a Reader in Forensic Psychiatry at St George's, University of London. She is an experienced university teacher and researcher who has lectured extensively on aspects of the forensic mental health system. She has an MA in English from Cambridge University, and a Doctorate in Social Anthropology, also from Cambridge University. She has been a Consultant in Forensic Psychiatry for 15 years and currently works clinically in HMP Holloway and in CNWL Foundation Trust as Clinical Lead for Mental Health (Offender Care). She was previously Clinical Director of the SWL and St George>'s MHT Forensic Service and has worked as a forensic psychiatrist in open, community, low and medium secure hospital settings. Her research interests include social exclusion and mental health (with particular reference to women and sexual orientation) and the culture of secure institutions.
Secure Lives will be of great use to anyone interested in the inner workings of a High Secure Hospital. It provides a rare insight into the inner workings of these closed institutions....Bartlett and her team were in situ to observe changes in management and in relationships between members of staff. Secure Lives is also highly readable....I found that the chapters on anthropological practice, reflexivity and methodology were filled with new terminology and practices, but Barletts style, humour and self-awareness bring personality and liveliness to what could easily have been a dense text. Finally, for anyone interested in institutions from that time period, whether historian or psychiatrist, the book serves as a valuable historical document that encapsulates life on the wards of Smithtown. * Erin J Lux, University of Strathclyde; History of Psychiatry *