A Tribute to the Late William J. Curran

1996 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 274-275
Author(s):  
O. Lawrence ◽  
J.D. Gostin

In the summer of 1979, a group of experts on law, medicine, and ethics assembled in Siracusa, Sicily, under the auspices of the International Commission of Jurists and the International Institute of Higher Studies in Criminal Science, to draft guidelines on the rights of persons with mental illness. Sitting across the table from me was a quiet, proud man of distinctive intelligence, William J. Curran, Frances Glessner Lee Professor of Legal Medicine at Harvard University. Professor Curran was one of the principal drafters of those guidelines. Many years later in 1991, after several subsequent re-drafts by United Nations (U.N.) Rapporteur Erica-Irene Daes, the text was adopted by the U.N. General Assembly as the Principles for the Protection of Persons with Mental Illness and for the Improvement of Mental Health Care. This was the kind of remarkable achievement in the field of law and medicine that Professor Curran repeated throughout his distinguished career.

2009 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 283-291 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irena Trobec ◽  
Majda Herbst ◽  
Boštjan Žvanut

When forced treatment in mental health care is under consideration, two approaches guide clinicians in their actions: the dominant rights-based approach and the relational ethical approach. We hypothesized that nurses with bachelor's degrees differentiate better between the two approaches than nurses without a degree. To test this hypothesis a survey was performed in major Slovenian health institutions. We found that nurses emphasize the importance of ethics and personal values, but 55.4% of all the nurse participants confused the two approaches. The results confirmed our hypothesis and indicate the importance of nurses' formal education, especially when caring for patients with mental illness.


2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vijayalakshmi Poreddi ◽  
S. Sai Nikhil Reddy ◽  
Sailaxmi Gandhi ◽  
Marimuthu P ◽  
Suresh BadaMath

Objective. To explore women's experiences of violence and their opinion on routine screening for domestic violence by nursing professionals in mental health care settings. Methods. This qualitative narrative research design was carried out among 20 asymptomatic women with mental illness at a tertiary care centre in Bangalore, India. Results. Narrative content analysis was performed, and five dominant themes have emerged: 1. Understanding the nature and signs of violence (subtheme: Meaning of violence), 2. Abusive experiences of women with mental illness (subthemes: Physical violence, psychological violence, social violence, sexual violence and financial violence), 3. Experiences on disclosure of violence (subthemes: Identification of violence by nursing professionals, Experiences of disclosure of violence), 4. Barriers for disclosure of abuse(subthemes: Fear of consequences, the hectic schedule of nursing staff, helplessness and hopelessness, perceived poor family support). 5.Routine screening for violence by nursing professionals (subthemes: reasons for routine inquiry of violence, nature of inquiry by the nursing professionals). Conclusion. Women with mental illness were undergoing more than one form of violence, and most of the participants supported routine screening by nursing professionals. Nurses play an essential role in identifying and supporting abused women in mental health care settings.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document