Legal and Ethical Issues

Question 1

Civil commitment

Answer 1

Legal declaration of mental illness
Can be held involuntarily
Needs treatment: danger to self or others or is unable to care for self

Question 2

Can remove person’s rights only if…

Answer 2

Person is an immediate danger to others
Person is an immediate danger to self
Person can’t care for self

Question 3

Police power

Answer 3

Court’s ability to protect society

Question 4

Parens patriae

Answer 4

Court’s ability to act as parent/guardian

Question 5

Psychiatric hold

Answer 5

Can only be done by psychiatrists or emergency room doctors

Person is held in psychiatric hospital for usually about 72 hours

Question 6

Legal proceedings of civil commitment

Answer 6

Psychological tests
Witnesses
Testimony
Determination is made by judge or jury

Question 7

Criminal commitment

Answer 7

Person is detained in mental health facility until assessed as fit or not fit to stand trial
Not guilty by reason of insanity: if court decides this, person is put into mental hospital until he/she is no longer considered dangerous (oftentimes, hospital stay is longer than jail time for crime committed)

Question 8

M’ Naghten rule

Answer 8

Beginning of insanity defense
Person is not considered to be responsible for criminal act if he/she doesn’t know what he/she’s doing or if he/she doesn’t know that what he/she’s doing is wrong

Question 9

Durham rule

Answer 9

Modification to M’ Naghten rule
No longer used
If criminal behavior is product of mental disease or defect, person isn’t held responsible

Question 10

American Law Institute (ALI)

Answer 10

Modification to Durham rule
Person is not responsible if person doesn’t know right vs. wrong, is incapable of self-control, or if person’s ability to understand the consequences of his/her behavior is diminished by mental disorder

Question 11

Mens Rea

Answer 11

Criminal intent

Not present in mentally ill people

Question 12

Guilty but mentally ill (GBMI)

Answer 12

Person is imprisoned and treated for mental illness in prison, if psychological services are available

Question 13

How often insanity defense is used

Answer 13

Actually: 1% of time

Public perception: about 35% of time

Question 14

Therapeutic jurisprudence

Answer 14

Courts use mechanism of behavior change
Drug courts: treat drug problem before sentencing
Marriage/family courts: refer to programs and involve family members to help mentally ill person in trouble with the law

Question 15

Competence to stand trial

Answer 15

Requirements: can understand legal charges, can assist in one’s own defense
Determined by court: all evidence is considered and burden of proof is put on defense (must prove that person is incompetent to stand trial)
If found incompetent, person loses decision-making authority and may end up being criminally committed

Question 16

Expert witness

Answer 16

Psychologists
Assist in competency determinations
Make predictions about danger level (accurate over short term)
Assist in making diagnoses
Advise regarding psychological assessment and diagnosis
Assess malingering

Question 17

How psychologists tell if someone is malingering

Answer 17

Person who is malingering will overreport symptoms that mentally ill people usually don’t report

Question 18

Duty to warn

Answer 18

Psychologists have a duty to warn the authorities and the person in danger when their client is dangerous

Question 19

Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California

Answer 19

Case that made it necessary to warn person in danger as well as police
Tarasoff’s boyfriend was in therapy and the therapist determined that he was a danger to her. The therapist called campus security, but not the girlfriend. The boyfriend killed Tarasoff later that day.

Question 20

Patient’s rights

Answer 20

Right to treatment (cannot be involuntarily committed without treatment)
Right to least restrictive alternative
Right to safety from abandonment
Right to refuse treatment of medical or psychological basis (exceptions: person is deemed incompetent to stand trial or court mandates treatment)

Question 21

Standards for clinical efficacy research

Answer 21

Must determine if treatment in question is better than no therapy, non-specific therapy, or alternative therapy

Question 22

Standards for clinical utility (effectiveness)

Answer 22

Must determine if therapy in question works in clinical settings as well as research settings