GUNN, John Charles (b 1937)

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 0100 KCLCA IOP/PP2
Held at	: King's College London College Archives   Click here to find out how to view this collection at http://www.kcl.ac.uk/library/archivespec/ ›
Full title	: GUNN, John Charles (b 1937)
Date(s)	: 1962-2002
Level of description	: Collection (fonds)
Extent	: 200 boxes or 2 cubic metres
Name of creator(s)	: Gunn | John Charles | b 1937 | forensic psychiatrist
Detailed catalogue	: Click here to view repository detailed catalogue

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

Born 1937; MB ChB, Birmingham University Medical School, 1961; House Officer, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, 1961-1962; Senior House Officer, 1962-1963; Senior House Officer, Maudsley Hospital, 1963-1964; Registrar and Honorary Senior Registrar, Maudsley, 1965-1971; diploma in psychological medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, 1966; research worker, Institute of Psychiatry, 1967-1969; MD, Birmingham, 1969; lecturer, 1969-1971; Member, Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1971; Senior Lecturer in forensic psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, 1971-1978; Consultant Psychiatrist, Bethlem Royal and Maudsley Hospital, 1971-2002; Director, Special Hospitals Research Unit, 1975-1978; advisor, House of Commons Select Committee on 'Violence in marriage', 1975; Head of Forensic Psychiatry section, Institute of Psychiatry, 1978-1987; Fellow, Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1980.

Member of the Home Secretary's advisory board on restricted patients, 1982-1991; advisor, Prison Medical Service, 1986; World Health Organisation specialist advisor in forensic psychiatry to China, 1987; member, Royal Commission on criminal justice, 1991-1993; consultant, European Committee for Prevention of Torture, 1993-; Chairman, Royal College of Psychiatrists' Faculty of Forensic Psychiatry, 2000-2004; member, Parole Board for England and Wales, 2006-.

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

Papers of John Gunn, 1926-2002, including extensive correspondence, notes, memoranda, funding applications, lecture presentations and press cuttings. The collection includes: files concerning the administration of the Institute of Psychiatry and its Department of Forensic Psychiatry, 1975-2000 (including policy, planning, funding, assessments and staffing), and the running of the Denis Hill Unit forensic in-patient service, Bethlem Royal Hospital, 1985-1998; published articles, book, chapters and book reviews by Gunn, 1966-2001, on topics including epilepsy, aggression, sex offenders, mental health legislation and suicide prevention in prison; research and research applications, 1966-2001, on topics including epileptic offenders, violence, and the discharge and subsequent care of Special Hospital patients; psychiatric questionnaires and assessments, 1967-1988; files relating to the Home Office, chiefly 1966-2000, and relating to the treatment of mentally disordered offenders, also copy medical evidence given to the Wolfenden Committee on Homosexual Offences and Prostitution, 1954, and papers relating to the May enquiry, 1989-1992, into the convictions for IRA bombings in Guildford and Woolwich, 1974.

Prison Service correspondence and reports, 1975-2000, covering the provision of secure psychiatric units and psychiatric care of the general prison population; papers, 1975-2000, relating to the UK Special Hospitals (high security psychiatric hospitals), and to Grendon experimental prison for offenders with antisocial personality disorders; correspondence, meeting papers and background information on the impact of amendments and proposed amendments to UK mental health legislation, 1972-2000, including the Floud Committee on dangerous offenders, 1976-1981, and the work of the Parliamentary Mental Health Group in formulating policy to restrict the spread of AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome), 1987-1988; reports and correspondence, 1972-2001, relating to the conduct of psychiatry, psychiatric facilities and prison welfare in countries including Australia, China, Egypt, Greece, Ireland and Turkey; papers, 1967-1999, relating to the Effra Trust, founded by Gunn in 1974 to provide accommodation and support to homeless male ex-offenders suffering from physical or mental disability.

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
English.

System of arrangement:

Files have been grouped chronologically under predominantly thematic headings, with the exception of patient and personnel files, which are arranged alphabetically. There is considerable overlap between the content of the thematic groups, reflecting the nature of Professor Gunn's work.

Conditions governing access:

Most of the collection is CLOSED. Some files are presently open, subject to signature of Reader's undertaking form, and appropriate provision of two forms of identification, to include one photographic ID. All administrative files are closed for review 30 years from the last date on file. Files containing personal data are closed for 80 years, and files containing medical data on named individuals are closed for 100 years. Access may be granted to researchers in certain circumstances, and upon signature of a special undertaking, providing such research is for purely statistical purposes and published data is anonymised such as to prevent the identification of individuals. Requests for access to the files must be made at least two weeks in advance, to allow time for file content to be checked for sensitivity.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Copies, subject to the condition of the original, may be supplied for research use only. Requests to publish original material should be submitted to the Director of Archives and Information Management.

Finding aids:

This collection description. A detailed catalogue will be made available online and in hard copy in the College Archives reading room.

Archival Information

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

The papers were placed in King's College London Archives by Professor Gunn between 2003 and 2008.

Allied Materials

Related material:

Publication note:

Description Notes

Archivist's note:
Entry compiled by Kate O'Brien. Catalogued as part of the Wellcome Trust-funded Troubled Minds project. Sources: Who's Who; additional biographical information from the collection.

Rules or conventions:
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions:
Mar 2010