Am J Psychiatry 1978; 135:53-60
Copyright © 1978 by American Psychiatric Association
The process of criminal commitment for pretrial psychiatric examination: an evaluation
JL Geller and ED Lister
The authors examined the records for 1975 of 87 pretrial commitments to
Worcester State Hospital under a 1971 revision of the Massachusetts law
regarding such commitments. They also compiled statistics on all admissions
to the hospital for 1966-1975. They found that only 2 of the 87 pretrial
commitments resulted in a final court disposition of commitment and that
pretrial commitments increased during 1972-1975 in contrast to a decrease
in other kinds of admissions. On the basis of these findings the authors
suggest that serious attention be paid to arguments that pretrial
commitment serves to control and sequester deviants. Dr. Alan A. Stone
comments on the authors' presentation.
