The current debate over the "police powers" versus parens patriae
rationales for involuntary hospitalization of the mentally ill underscores
the need for empirical study of the process of judicial decision making in
civil commitment and determinations of competence. The authors report the
ratings on 26 descriptive variables made by five Massachusetts district
court judges for 35 patients in civil commitment hearings. Nearly all of
the hearings resulted in commitments. These findings suggest that
psychiatrists may be setting too high a threshold for petitioning for
commitment. Experienced judges appeared to be sensitive to the kinds of
clinical issues that earlier studies have shown to contribute significantly
to the psychiatrist's decision to petition for commitment.Abstract Teaser