Author's response

I am glad that Dr Williams and I agreed on so many points. However, although we both concur that there is a place for public education, I advocated the need to target this very carefully by using market research techniques. Naturally, neither Dr Williams nor I knows the outcome of such research, but I would be very surprised indeed if Dr Williams' approach to fostering the victim role among young inner-city men would be effective. More likely than not, it would make services even more unacceptable and unappealing. In a more general sense, I have never found it helpful to encourage patients to think of themselves as victims.