The field of emergency mental health care is evolving rapidly. In addition to continued widespread use of the traditional consultation model, in which psychiatrists provide on-call assistance to emergency department physicians, specialized psychiatric emergency services (PESs) are available in many cities, and newer models of integrated community psychiatric emergency care are being developed and implemented. With the spread of AIDS, the aging of the population, and the popularity of recreational substances of abuse, the scope and complexity of the field have increased as well. Emergency Psychiatry provides a snapshot of the current state of the art of this fast-paced discipline.

Readers of this volume will find - Survey of the major service models used in emergency psychiatry: the consultation model, the specialized PES model, and newer community models (crisis hospitalization, mobile teams, crisis residences)- Principles of triage of patients presenting to an emergency department with psychiatric problems, including a discussion of instruments used to assess psychosocial and cognitive functioning- Guidelines for assessing risk of suicide or violence- Standards for behavioral management of agitation and aggression aimed at reestablishing inner and outer controls for the patient in the least coercive manner- Discussion of legal and regulatory issues affecting emergency room practice- Guidance on application of psychotherapeutic technique to interviewing patients in crises so as to communicate concern, elicit cooperation and essential information about the patient's state, and foster an alliance that facilitates appropriate treatment

Psychiatric emergencies can occur at any time and in any setting; for this reason, every mental health clinician should be familiar with the principles of crisis management and the cutting-edge issues surrounding the provision of emergency psychiatric care. Intended for psychiatrists, psychiatric and emergency medicine residents, and all mental health practitioners, this book offers an accessible guide to current practice and thought in this exciting field.

"Globalization, Negotiation, and the Failure of Transformation in South Africa" considers the consequences of the coincidence of two revolutions in South Africa at the end of the Cold War. One was the completion of decolonization in Africa, with the advent of African majority rule and democracy in South Africa in 1994. The other was the emergence of the global mode of production as the pre-eminent form of organization in world political economy, that was to force revisions of prior assumptions about development strategies, international diplomacy, nation-building, class struggle and gender relations in all parts of the world. The book explains the social forces, forms of consciousness and structural constraints that undermined Apartheid, preserved national unity and yet, later constrained democratic sovereignty, as the imperatives of global markets clashed with the prior aspirations of the democratic revolution. A unique theoretical synthesis from several critical perspectives, informs this study of South African political economy up to the early years of the twenty first century. It draws practical and theoretical implications for critical application in other parts of the world where challenges of democratic sovereignty, national unity, class and gender dynamics, must be simultaneously negotiated in face of global production, finance and culture, and new forms of rule-making authority.

This book challenges the current thinking and strategies in the field of global peace and security. It is clear that current global public and private institutions are inadequate for the challenges we face today. These challenges cut across borders and require a more coordinated and concerted effort to find workable solutions. This book therefore begins with the question of global leadership and works its way back to the interconnected dynamics of global modernity and conflict. It is divided into four parts, each addressing a fundamental challenge to global peace and security. By exploring how we break out of the current framework, in which we understand global activities and the distribution of resources, and this book provides new ways of understanding the material, cultural, political, and spiritual relations that form the basis of international society.

The book explains the social forces, forms of consciousness and structural constraints that undermined Apartheid, preserved national unity and yet, later constrained democratic sovereignty, as the imperatives of global markets clashed with the prior aspirations of the democratic revolution.