Study of the Feasibility of Adopting a Program of Outpatient Civil Commitment For Persons Who Are Mentally Ill: BULLETIN NO. 99-8

1999 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
Mentally Ill ◽  
Civil Commitment

The Adversary System in Civil Commitment of the Mentally Ill: Does it Exist, and Does it Work?

1981 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 403-421 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert D. Miller ◽  
Paul B. Fiddleman
Keyword(s):  
Mentally Ill ◽  
Civil Commitment ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Adversarial System ◽  
Clear Cut ◽  
Adversary System ◽  
Effective Representation

Legal activists have argued for adversary counsel to represent patients in civil commitment hearings, and many courts and legislatures have responded by requiring effective representation for patients. The authors argue that a truly adversarial system requires full-time attorneys representing both sides (commitment and release) with clear-cut roles for each attorney, and that such systems are generally not in use at this time.

Effects of the Dangerousness Standard in Civil Commitment

1987 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 433-454 ◽  
Author(s):  
Virginia Aldigé Hiday ◽  
Lynn Newhart Smith
Keyword(s):  
Mentally Ill ◽  
Civil Commitment ◽  
Involuntary Hospitalization ◽  
Mental Hospitals ◽  
Dangerous Behavior ◽  
Behavioral Criteria

This study presents data from a large statewide sample of civil commitment respondents, which challenge beliefs about the deleterious effects of the dangerousness standard on the mentally ill and on mental hospitals. Using objective behavioral criteria, this study finds that the mentally ill brought into the civil commitment process and those committed by the courts to involuntary hospitalization are not limited to the violent, much less the violent to others. Their dangerousness is often toward self and is nonviolent. Many even have no allegations of dangerous behavior. Furthermore, most who are violent do not reach high levels of violence. Reasons for continuation of the beliefs that the dangerousness standard causes the abandonment of the nondangerous mentally ill and causes the filling of mental hospitals with the violent are discussed.

Civil commitment of the mentally ill

JAMA ◽  
1980 ◽  
Vol 243 (18) ◽  
pp. 1807b-1807
Author(s):  
G. M. Solan
Keyword(s):  
Mentally Ill ◽  
Civil Commitment

Police Handling of the Mentally Ill in Domestic Violence Situations

2002 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 278-307 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary A. Finn ◽  
Loretta J. Stalans
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Mental State ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Mentally Ill ◽  
Civil Commitment ◽  
Mental Hospitals

This article provides a systematic test of the reasoning underlying officers' decisions to civilly commit or arrest hallucinating suspects of domestic violence. Police officers ( N = 257) read hypothetical scripts that manipulated three conditions (the suspect's mental state, antagonism or cooperativeness between disputants, and presence or absence of victim injury) and responded to questions about their inferences and responses. Findings indicate that mentally ill husbands were not more likely to be arrested, but officers who blamed the victim or held stereotypic views supportive of the use of violence were less likely to arrest. Police officers who believed that mental hospitals typically accepted violent persons, perceived that severe harm to the victim was likely if the suspect remained in the home, and regarded the suspect as cooperative with them were more likely to seek civil commitment.

The Role and Functions of the Attorney in the Civil Commitment Process: The District of Columbia's Approach

1978 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph P. Cyr
Keyword(s):  
Mentally Ill ◽  
Civil Commitment ◽  
Individual Rights ◽  
Legal Representation ◽  
Complex Issue ◽  
Professional Interest ◽  
Social Interests ◽  
Future Harm ◽  
Judicial Procedures ◽  
General Concern

During the last 2 decades, the general concern over individual rights and liberties has influenced the nature of public and professional interest regarding the involuntary commitment of the mentally ill. The commitment of mentally ill persons for the humanitarian purpose of providing them care or for protecting them or others from possible future harm contrasts sharply with libertarian ideals. The complex issue of balancing individual freedom against social interests is further complicated by our quasi-judicial procedures of determining when and how a person should be hospitalized against his will. This article proposes that the role and functions of appointed counsel are essential to establishing procedures which adequately balance social interests and individual rights. The civil commitment process in the District of Columbia is presented with the intent of highlighting an adequate system of legal representation.

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