NCJ Number
176073
Date Published
1997
Length
443 pages
Annotation
This volume analyzes mental health treatment techniques and the constitutional issues involved in involuntary treatment in corrections and health care settings.
Abstract
The first part of the book presents a continuum of intrusiveness that can be used to rank various treatment techniques, including psychotherapy, behavior therapy, psychotropic medication, electroconvulsive therapy, electronic stimulation of the brain, and psychosurgery. The book's second section discusses the constitutional limitations and other legal limitations on governmentally imposed, involuntary mental health and correctional treatment. The analysis focuses on limits imposed by statutes, regulations, international law, and tort law. It also discusses the governmental interests that might justify involuntary treatment and examines two crucial limitations on the means to achieve these interests: the therapeutic appropriateness principle and the least restrictive alternative principle. The final section examines issues related to the evaluation and implementation of the right to refuse mental health treatment and considers future directions for the right to refuse treatment, including the use of advance directive instruments and the role of ethical restrictions. Footnotes, table of cases, and index