Involuntary commitment,civil commitment,or involuntary hospitalization/hospitalisation is a legal process through which an individual who is deemed by a qualified person to have symptoms of severe mental disorder is detained in a psychiatric hospital (inpatient) where they can be treated involuntarily. This treatment may involve the administration of psychoactive drugs,including involuntary administration. In many jurisdictions,people diagnosed with mental health disorders can also be forced to undergo treatment while in the community;this is sometimes referred to as outpatient commitment and shares legal processes with commitment.
Insanity,madness,lunacy,and craziness are behaviors caused by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity can manifest as violations of societal norms,including a person or persons becoming a danger to themselves or to other people. Conceptually,mental insanity also is associated with the biological phenomenon of contagion as in the case of copycat suicides. In contemporary usage,the term insanity is an informal,un-scientific term denoting "mental instability";thus,the term insanity defense is the legal definition of mental instability. In medicine,the general term psychosis is used to include the presence of delusions and/or hallucinations in a patient;and psychiatric illness is "psychopathology",not mental insanity.
The Treatment Advocacy Center (TAC) is a U.S. non-profit organization based in Arlington,Virginia,originally announced as the NAMI Treatment Action Centre in 1997. The TAC was subsequently directed by psychiatrist E. Fuller Torrey and identifies its mission as "dedicated to eliminating barriers to the timely and effective treatment of severe mental illness". The organization is most well-known for proposed laws,policies,and practices regarding legally compelled outpatient services or outpatient commitment for people diagnosed with mental illness. The organization identifies its other key issues as "anosognosia,consequences of non-treatment,criminalization of mental illness,psychiatric bed shortages,public service costs,violence and mental illness". Advocates for mental health have criticized TAC for endorsing coercion and forced treatment.
Richard Fred Lewis is a retired American judge who was appointed to the Supreme Court of Florida on December 7,1998,and served until January 8,2019.
Mental health courts link offenders who would ordinarily be prison-bound to long-term community-based treatment. They rely on mental health assessments,individualized treatment plans,and ongoing judicial monitoring to address both the mental health needs of offenders and public safety concerns of communities. Like other problem-solving courts such as drug courts,domestic violence courts,and community courts,mental health courts seek to address the underlying problems that contribute to criminal behavior.
Therapeutic jurisprudence (TJ) is an interdisciplinary approach to legal scholarship with the goal of reforming the law so it has a positive impact on the well-being of defendants appearing in court. TJ researchers and practitioners typically make use of social science methods to explore ways in which negative consequences can be reduced,and therapeutic consequences enhanced,without breaching due process requirements. By taking a non-adversarial approach to the administration of justice,judges and lawyers work together to create strategies that help offenders make positive changes in their own lives. Therapeutic jurisprudence has been used successfully in mental health courts and other problem-solving courts,such as drug courts for defendants with addictions.
Bruce J. Winick was the Silvers-Rubenstein Distinguished Professor of Law and Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Miami in Coral Gables,Florida,where he had taught since 1974. He was an internationally known scholar and lecturer in mental health law and in law and psychology. The co-founder of the school of social enquiry known as therapeutic jurisprudence,Winick is Director of the University of Miami School of Law’s recently established Therapeutic Jurisprudence Center. Winick also had a long career as a civil rights lawyer,and had served as an expert witness on a variety of law-related issues. Winick died in 2010 after a long battle with cancer.
Ford v. Wainwright,477 U.S. 399 (1986),was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld the common law rule that the insane cannot be executed;therefore the petitioner is entitled to a competency evaluation and to an evidentiary hearing in court on the question of their competency to be executed.
A diversion program,also known as a pretrial diversion program or pretrial intervention program,in the criminal justice system is a form of pretrial sentencing that helps remedy the behavior leading to the arrest. Administered by the judicial or law enforcement systems,they often allow the offender to avoid conviction and include a rehabilitation program to prevent future criminal acts. Availability and the operation of such systems differ in different countries.
Florida State Hospital (FSH) is a hospital and psychiatric hospital in Chattahoochee,Florida. Established in 1876,it was Florida's only state mental institution until 1947. It currently has a capacity of 1,042 patients. The hospital's current Administration Building is on the National Register of Historic Places.
David B. Wexler is a Professor of Law at the University of Puerto Rico in San Juan,Puerto Rico,a Distinguished Research Professor of Law Emeritus at the James E. Rogers College of Law,Tucson,Arizona,and an Honorary President of the International Society for Therapeutic Jurisprudence.
The Utah State Hospital (USH) is a mental hospital located in eastern Provo,Utah. The current superintendent is Dallas Earnshaw.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to psychiatry:
Morton Birnbaum was an American lawyer and physician who advocated for the right of psychiatric patients to have adequate,humane care,and who coined the term sanism.
Involuntary commitment or civil commitment is a legal process through which an individual who is deemed by a qualified agent to have symptoms of severe mental disorder is detained in a psychiatric hospital (inpatient) where they can be treated involuntarily.
People with mental illnesses are over-represented in jail and prison populations in the United States relative to the general population.
Peter M. Weinstein is an American politician in the state of Florida.
The Honorable Stephanie Rhoades served as a District Court Judge in Anchorage,Alaska,from 1992 to 2017. Judge Stephanie Rhoades founded the Anchorage Coordinated Resources Project (ACRP),better known as the Anchorage Mental Health Court (AMHC). AMHC was the first mental health court established in Alaska and the fourth mental health court established in the United States. Legal scholars suggest in the Alaska Law Review that mental health courts are to be considered therapeutic jurisprudence and define crime that deserves therapeutic justice as “a manifestation of illness of the offender’s body or character.”They follow that crime that falls under this definition “should be addressed through treatment by professionals.”
Robin Bartleman is an American legislator and educator serving as a member of the Florida House of Representatives from the 103rd district. She assumed office on November 3,2020. She is a member of the Democratic Party.
Vincent B. Van Hasselt is a Professor in Psychology and the Director of the First Responder Research and Training Program at Nova Southeastern University. His area of focus is First Responder Psychology that looks into policing issues,911 operators,firefighters and crime investigators.
