Tragedies to Come

A book on the Mary Bell case acts, once again, as a depressing reminder that psychiatric facilities for children and adolescents are dangerously inadequate and that, until we devote enough resources and mobilise the right skills, further tragedies may still occur. Gitta Sereny's clear and readable book* will help many people, who had only the Press accounts to guide them, to make some sense of the story of Mary Bell. She also tries to draw out the lessons to be learned both by professional workers, and by society at large. It is strange that so often the knowledge of deficiencies in the caring services has to be brought into the open by writers and journalists. The workers in the field know what is wrong but somehow still lack an effective voice in trying to reach either the politicians or the public. The book gives a good account of the events leading up to the trial and of the trial itself. The author expresses her disquiet at the impact of trial procedures on the two girls, Mary aged n, and Norma aged 13, a disquiet which was shared by many other people who attended the trial. I think that she is here touching on the larger question of the age of criminal responsibility, and this itself, in addition to the way in which children may best give evidence, needs further examination and reform. However, the findings of the Court are not in question, it is the events which followed which have caused such widespread anxiety. The author has been able to provide authentic background information, mostly from Mary's relatives , but with no direct contact with Mary's mother, and little with her maternal grandmother. A picture emerges which reveals features which will not surprise anyone who is involved in the care of children and adolescents with a history of disturbance or deprivation. This leads on to a discussion of the psychiatric diagnosis of psychopathy. There was no argument about this diagnosis of Mary at the trial, and there seems to have been continuing agreement among the highly experienced psychiatrists who examined her that she was, without doubt, psychopathic. The author gives brief and clear consideration to the genesis and nature of psychopathy, and this should be easily grasped, even by those not immediately familiar with the topic.