The new preventive detention: psychiatry's problematic responsibility for the control of violence
Abstract
The legal doctrine of the duty to protect potential victims of patients' violent acts has created problems beyond those usually discussed, which involve breach of patients' confidentiality. Fear of liability has led some psychiatrists to hospitalize, solely for the purpose of preventing violence, patients who do not otherwise require inpatient care. The result has been the creation of a de facto system of preventive detention that consumes psychiatric resources intended to serve therapeutic ends and compels psychiatrists to share the social control responsibilities of the criminal justice system. The author explores the costs and benefits of various means of removing the burden of preventive detention from psychiatry.
Access content
To read the fulltext, please use one of the options below to sign in or purchase access.- Personal login
- Institutional Login
- Sign in via OpenAthens
- Register for access
-
Please login/register if you wish to pair your device and check access availability.
Not a subscriber?
PsychiatryOnline subscription options offer access to the DSM-5 library, books, journals, CME, and patient resources. This all-in-one virtual library provides psychiatrists and mental health professionals with key resources for diagnosis, treatment, research, and professional development.
Need more help? PsychiatryOnline Customer Service may be reached by emailing [email protected] or by calling 800-368-5777 (in the U.S.) or 703-907-7322 (outside the U.S.).