The relationship between General and Forensic Psychiatry has a long history, being for the most part constructive, but also characterised by tension and conflict. The mentally abnormal offender has been welcome neither in general mental health services nor in prisons. In nineteenth and twentieth century asylums and mental hospitals, the mixing of “criminal lunatics” with “ordinary lunatics” was unavoidable but not usually preferred. With the opening of mental hospitals from the 1950’s, the admission of mentally abnormal offenders became more problematic. From the 1970’s, medium secure units were built to assess and treat mentally disordered patients posing a significant risk to others, leaving only those posing the most serious risk to the Special (High Security) Hospitals. The placement of psychopaths and sex offenders posed especial complexity. Additionally some patients not convicted in a court but prone to serious violence or absconding from hospital may also require forensic placement. An issue however for modern psychiatry as a whole is how best general and forensic psychiatry should interact.