Am J Psychiatry 1989; 146:187-193
Copyright © 1989 by American Psychiatric Association
Civil commitment standards and patient mix in England/Wales, Italy, and the United States
SP Segal
Mental Health and Social Welfare Research Group, University of California, Berkeley 94720.
Although England/Wales, Italy, and the United States share a common policy
of deinstitutionalization, their mental health systems differ considerably.
Each country's civil commitment standards define patient eligibility
criteria along one of two primary dimensions--need for treatment or degree
of dangerousness. These differential selection criteria result in mental
health systems serving different subgroups of the total population. The
criteria in England/Wales target older women; in the United States, younger
men; and in Italy, a group balanced in age and sex. Implications for the
current debate on civil commitment policies are considered.
