NCJ Number
74715
Journal
Psychiatric Quarterly Volume: 52 Issue: 2 Dated: special issue (Summer 1980) Pages: complete issue
Editor(s)
R H Vispo
Date Published
1980
Length
87 pages
Annotation
The problem of predicting dangerousness is examined from the perspective of forensic psychiatrists in connection with the appropriate treatment of violent offenders who appear to be mentally ill and the rights of mental patients.
Abstract
Prediction of dangerousness is one of the most important aspects of forensic psychiatry, not only from the viewpoint of insanity defense but also from the viewpoint of the humane and useful treatment of violent patients. The topics treated in these essays include the right of mental patients not to be a false positive in connection with the definition and application of the dangerousness standard for involuntary commitment; a critical analysis of crime among discharged mental patients; an open-system approach to the mental health treatment of violent offenders as practiced at the Central New York Psychiatric Center, which treats only convicted and sentenced inmates with mental problems; and a presentation of the justly-acquitted doctrine by its formulator along with a discussion of the right of jurors to follow their conscience in reaching a non-guilty verdict. Each essay has endnotes which include legal citations and references.