Legal definitions

Question 1

civil commitment laws

Answer 1

Legal proceedings that determine a person has a mental disorder and may be hospitalized, even involuntarily.

Question 2

clinical efficacy

Answer 2

One of a proposed set of guidelines for evaluating clinical interventions on the evidence of their effectiveness.

Question 3

criminal commitment

Answer 3

Legal procedure by which a person who is found not criminally responsible on account of a mental disorder must be confined in a psychiatric hospital.

Question 4

dangerousness, is it more likely among mental patients

Answer 4

Tendency to violence that, contrary to popular opinion, is not more likely among mental patients.

Question 5

deinstitutionalization

Answer 5

Systematic removal of people with severe mental illness or intellectual development disorder from institutions like psychiatric hospitals.

Question 6

duty to warn

Answer 6

Mental health professionals’ responsibility to break confidentiality and notify the potential victim whom a client has specifically threatened.

Question 7

expert witnesses

Answer 7

Person who because of special training and experience is allowed to offer opinion testimony in legal trials.

Question 8

fitness to stand trial

Answer 8

To stand trial, people must be able to understand the charges against them and to assist with their own defence.

Question 9

mental illness

Answer 9

Term formerly used to mean psychological disorder but less preferred because it implies that the causes of the disorder can be found in a medical disease process.

Question 10

transinstitutionalization

Answer 10

Movement of people with severe mental illness from large psychiatric hospitals to smaller group residences.

Question 11

clinical utility

Answer 11

One of a proposed set of guidelines for evaluating clinical interventions by whether they can be applied effectively and cost effectively in real clinical settings.