Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Handbook of Psychology and Law pp 361–381Cite as

Therapeutic Jurisprudence: A New Approach to Mental Health Law

  • Chapter

Abstract

Modern mental health law was conceived when courts and commentators recognized that psychiatrists and other mental health professionals often promised society—and the legal system—far more than they were able to deliver (Kittrie, 1971; Szasz, 1963; cf. In re Gault, 1966). That era was typified by the legal profession’s deferring to psychiatry with respect to the content of the law and its administration (e.g., civil commitment , effectuated by a “two-physician certificate” rather than by a hearing). Today, by contrast, mental health law emphasizes matters such as procedural protections (due process hearings, assigned lawyers) for persons facing civil commitment.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Allen v. Illinois, 106 S.Ct. 2988 (1986).

    Google Scholar 

  • Amaya, M., & Burlingame, W. (1981). Judicial review of psychiatric admissions. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 20, 161–111.

    Google Scholar 

  • American Bar Association. (1983). Model rules of professional conduct. Chicago: Author.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, C., Reiss, D., & Hogarty, G. (1986). Schizophrenia and the family: A practitioner’s guide to psychoeducation and management. New York: Guilford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Appelbaum, P., & Hoge, S. (1986). Empirical research on the effects of legal policy on the right to refuse treatment. In D. Rapoport & J. Parry (Eds.), The right to refuse antipsychotic medication (pp. SI-91). Washington, DC: American Bar Association Commission on the Mentally Disabled.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barefoot v. Estelle, 103 S.Ct. 3383 (1983).

    Google Scholar 

  • Brakel, S.J. (1977). The role of the lawyer in the mental health field. American Bar Foundation Research Journal, 1977, 467–475.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brakel, S.J. (1981). Legal aid in mental hospitals. American Bar Foundation Research Journal, 1981, 23–93.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brakel, S.J., Parry, J., & Weiner, B. (1985). The mentally disabled and the law. Chicago: American Bar Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burt, R. (1973). Admission and release processes of veterans administration psychiatric hospitals. Unpublished manuscript.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burt, R. (1979). Taking care of strangers: the rule of law in doctor patient relations. New York: Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burt, R., & Morris, N. (1972). A proposal for the abolition of the incompetency plea. University of Chicago Law Review, 40, 66–95. Conservatorship of Neal, 235 Cal. Rptr. 577 (Ct. App. 1987).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davis, P. (1987). “There is a book out.”: An analysis of judicial absorption of legislative facts. Harvard Law Review, 100, 1539–1604.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DeKraai, M. & Sales, B. (1984). Confidential communications of psychotherapists. Psychotherapy, 21, 293–318.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Delgado, R. (1984). Inequality “from the top”: Applying an ancient prohibition to an emerging problem of distributive justice. UCLA Law Review, 32, 100–134.

    Google Scholar 

  • Drake, R., & Osher, F. (1987). Using family psychoeducation when there is no family. Hospital and Community Psychiatry, 38, 274–277.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dresser, R. (1984). Feeding the hunger artists: Legal issues in treating anorexia nervosa. Wisconsin Law Review, 1984, 297–374.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Durham, M., & LaFond, J. (1985). The empirical consequences and policy implications of broadening the statutory criteria for civil commitment. Yale Law and Policy Review, 3, 395–446.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Durham, M., & LaFond, J. (1988). A search for the missing premise of involuntary therapeutic commitment: Effective treatment of the mentally ill. Rutgers Law Review, 40, 303–370.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Eisenberg, G., Mueller Barnes, B., & Gutheil, T. (1980). Involuntary commitment and the treatment process: A clinical perspective. Bulletin of the American Academy of Psychiatry and Law, 8, 44–55.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ellis, B. (1976). Juvenile court: The legal process as a rehabilitative tool. Washington Law Review, 51, 697–732.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ensminger, J., & Liguori, T. (1978). The therapeutic significance of the civil commitment hearing: An unexplored potential. Journal of Psychiatry and Law, 6, 5–44.

    Google Scholar 

  • Estroff, S. (1981). Making it crazy: An ethnography of psychiatric clients in an American community. Berkeley, CA: University of California.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fagan, R., & Fagan, N. (1982). The impact of legal coercion on the treatment of alcoholism. Journal of Drug Issues, 12, 103–114.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fein, R. (1984). How the insanity acquittal retards treatment. Law and Human Behavior, 8, 283–292.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Feinberg, J. (1986). Harm to self. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fischl, R. (1987). Some realism about critical legal studies. University of Miami Law Review, 41, 505–532.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenley, D., Abel, S., & Small, K. (1978). Availability of health and life insurance for persons with a history of mental illness, alcoholism, drug abuse or criminal record. Madison, WI: Center for Public Representation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenley, J. (1979). Family symptom tolerance and rehospitalization experiences of psychiatric patients. Research in Community and Mental Health, 1, 357–386.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gutheil, T. (1979). Legal defense as ego defense: A special form of resistance to the therapeutic process. Psychiatric Quarterly, 51, 251–256.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Haley, J. (1980). Leaving home: The therapy of disturbed young people. New York: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hans, V., & Slater, D. (1984). “Plain crazy”: Lay definitions of legal insanity. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 7, 105–114.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hatfield, A. (1987). Expressed emotion theory: Why families object. Hospital and Community Psychiatry, 38, 341.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoge, S., & Gutheil, T. (1987). The prosecution of psychiatric patients for assaults on staff: A preliminary empirical study. Hospital and Community Psychiatry, 38, 44–49.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • In re Gault, 87 S.Ct. 1428 (1966).

    Google Scholar 

  • Kalman, T. (1983). An overview of patient satisfaction with psychiatric treatment. Hospital and Community Psychiatry, 34, 48–54.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kiesler, C., & Sibulkin, A. (1987). Mental hospitalization: Myths and facts about a national crisis. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kittrie, N. (1971). The right to be different: deviance and enforced therapy. Baltimore: John Hopkins.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lang, A., Goeckner, D., Adesso, V., & Marlatt, G. (1975). Effects of alcohol on aggression in male social drinkers. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 84, 508–518.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Leff, J., & Vaughn, C. (1985) Expressed emotion in families: Its significance for mental illness. New York: Guilford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leff, J., & Vaughn, C. (1987). Letter. Hospital and Community Psychiatry, 38, 1117–1118.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Link, B., Cullen, F., Frank, J., Wozniak, J. (1987). The social rejection of former mental patients: Understanding why labels matter. American Journal of Sociology, 92, 1461–1500.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Massad, P., & Sales, B. (1981). Guardianship and deinstitutionalization. American Behavioral Scientist, 24, 755–770.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mathew v. Nelson, 461 F. Supp. 707 (N.D. 111. 1978). Matter of Carl C., 511 N.Y.S.2d 144 (App. Div. 1987).

    Google Scholar 

  • Matter of Wilson, M.H. #1124–82, B.C. Superior Court (1983). Melton, G. (Ed.) (1986). The law as a behavioral instrument. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miklowitz, D., Goldstein, M., Neuchterlein, K., Snyder, K., & Mintz, J. (1988). Family factors and the course of bipolar affective disorder. Archives of General Psychiatry, 45, 225–231.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Miles, C. (1987). Setting priorities for psychiatric research. Hospital and Community Psychiatry, 38, 809.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Miller, R., & Maier, G. (1987). Factors affecting the decision to prosecute mental patients for criminal behavior. Hospital and Community Psychiatry, 38, 50–55.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Miller, R., Maier, G., Blancke, F., & Doren, D. (1986). Litigiousness as a resistance to therapy. Journal of Psychiatry and Law, 14, 109–123.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell, C. (1988). The intoxicated offender: Refuting the legal and medical myths. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 11, 77–1033.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Monahan, J. (1973). Abolish the insanity defense?—not yet. Rutgers Law Review, 26, 719–740.

    Google Scholar 

  • Monahan, J., & Walker, L. (1985). Social science in law: Cases and materials. New York: Foundation Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Monahan, J., & Walker, L. (1986). Social authority: Obtaining, evaluating, and establishing social science in law. University of Pennsylvania Law Review, 134, 477–517.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morris, N. (1974). The future of imprisonment: Toward a punitive philosophy. Michigan Law Review, 72, 1161–1180.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morris, N. (1981). Predicting violence with statistics. Stanford Law Review, 34, 249–253.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • National Center for State Courts. (1987). Guidelines for involuntary civil commitment. Mental and Physical Disability Law Reporter, 10, 409–514.

    Google Scholar 

  • Note. (1975). The role of counsel in the civil commitment process: A theoretical framework. Yale Law Journal, 84, 1540–1563.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Reilly, J., & Sales, B. (1986). Setting physical standards for mental hospitals: To whom should the courts listen? International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 8, 301–309.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • O’Reilly, J., & Sales, B. (1987). Privacy for the institutionalized mentally ill: Are court-ordered standards effective? Law and Human Behavior, 11, 41–53.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parham v. J.R., 99 S.Ct. 2493 (1979).

    Google Scholar 

  • Periin, M. (1976). The right to voluntary, compensated, therapeutic work as part of the right to treatment: A new theory in the aftermath of Souder. Seton Hall Law Review, 7, 298–339.

    Google Scholar 

  • Periin, M. (1981). An invitation to the dance: An empirical response to Chief Justice Warren Burger’s “time-consuming procedural minuets” theory in Parham v. J.R. Bulletin of the American Academy of Psychiatry and Law, 9, 149–164.

    Google Scholar 

  • Perry, G., & Melton, G. (1983–1984). Precedential value of judicial notice of social facts: Parham as an example. Journal of Family Law, 22, 633–676.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pihl, R., Zeichner, A., Niaura, R., Nagy, K., & Zacchia, C. (1981). Attribution and alcohol-mediated aggression. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 90, 468–475.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Poythress, N. (1978). Psychiatric expertise in civil commitment: Training attorneys to cope with expert testimony. Law and Human Behavior, 2, 1–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rawls, J. (1971). A theory of justice. Cambridge MA: Belknap.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robinson, P. (1987). Hybrid principles for the distribution of criminal sanctions. Northwestern University Law Review, 82, 19–42.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosenblatt, P. (1983). Grief and involvement in wrongful death litigation. Law and Human Behavior, 7, 351–359.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ross v. Moffitt, 94 S.Ct. 2437 (1974).

    Google Scholar 

  • Roth, L. (1988). Coercion. Unpublished manuscript.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sales, B., & Kahle, L. (1980). Law and attitudes toward the mentally ill. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 3, 391–403.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sales, B., Powell, D.M., & Van Duizend, R. (1982). Disabled persons and the law. New York: Plenum.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Salmon, R.W., & Salmon, R.J. (1983). The role of coercion in rehabilitation of drug abusers. International Journal of the Addictions, 18, 9–21.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schneyer, T. (1986). Getting from “is” to “ought” in legal ethics. American Bar Foundation Research Journal, 1986, 903–920.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz, H., Vingiano, W., & Bezirganian-Perez, C. (1988). Autonomy and the right to refuse treatment: Patients’ attitudes after involuntary medication. Hospital and Community Psychiatry, 39, 1049–1054.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shuman, D., & Weiner, M. (1982). The privilege study: An empirical examination of the psychotherapist-patient privilege. North Carolina Law Review, 60, 893–942.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, M., Glass, G., & Miller, T. (1980). The benefits of psychotherapy. Baltimore: John Hopkins.

    Google Scholar 

  • State v. Nance, 735 P.2d 1271 (Or. App. 1987).

    Google Scholar 

  • Stone, A. (1976). The Tarasoff decisions: Suing psychotherapists to safeguard society. Harvard Law Review, 90, 358–378.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Szasz, T. (1963). Law, liberty and psychiatry. New York: Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tarasoff v. Regents of University of California, 131 Cal. Rptr. 14 (1976).

    Google Scholar 

  • United States v. Leon, 104 S.Ct. 3405 (1984).

    Google Scholar 

  • Walker, L., & Monahan, J. (1987). Social frameworks: A new use of social science in law. Virginia Law Review, 73, 559–598.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wexler, D. (1972). Therapeutic justice. Minnesota Law Review, 57, 289–338.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wexler, D. (1979). Patient’s, therapists, and third parties: The victimological virtues of Tarasoff. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 2, 1–28.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wexler, D. (1980a). Doctor-patient dialogue: A second opinion on talk therapy through law. Yale Law Journal, 90, 458–472.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wexler, D. (1980b). Victimology and mental health law: An agenda. Virginia Law Review, 66, 681–711.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wexler, D. (1981). Mental health law: Major issues. New York: Plenum.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Wexler, D. (1983). Inappropriate patient confinement and appropriate state advocacy. Law and Contemporary Problems, 45, 193–209.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wexler, D. (1986). Grave disability and family therapy: The therapeutic potential of civil libertarian commitment codes. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 9, 39–56.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wexler, D. (1990). Therapeutic jurisprudence: The law as a therapeutic agent. Durham: Carolina Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wexler, D., & Scoville, S. (1971). The administration of psychiatric justice: Theory and practice in Arizona. Arizona Law Review, 13, 1–259.

    Google Scholar 

  • Winick, B. (1985). Restructuring competency to stand trial. UCLA Law Review, 32, 921–985.

    Google Scholar 

  • Winick, B. (1991). Harnessing the power of the bet: Wagering with the government as a mechanism for social and individual change. University of Miami Law Review.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wulsin, L., Bursztajn, H., & Gutheil, T. (1983). Unexpected clinical features of the Tarasoff decision: The therapeutic alliance and the “duty to warn.” American Journal of Psychiatry, 140, 601–603.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wyatt v. Stickney, 344 F. Supp. 387 (1972).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. David B. Wexler
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Robert F. Schopp
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. 19130, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Dorothy K. Kagehiro

  2. Department of Legal Studies, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, 19104-6369, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    William S. Laufer

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1992 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Wexler, D.B., Schopp, R.F. (1992). Therapeutic Jurisprudence: A New Approach to Mental Health Law. In: Kagehiro, D.K., Laufer, W.S. (eds) Handbook of Psychology and Law. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-4038-7_18

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-4038-7_18

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4757-4040-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-4038-7

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation