Equity in the application of civil commitment criteria

1985 ◽  
Vol 1985 (28) ◽  
pp. 93-105
Author(s):  
Steven P. Segal ◽  
Margaret A. Watson ◽  
L. Scott Nelson
Keyword(s):  
Civil Commitment ◽  
Commitment Criteria

Civil Commitment and the Danger Mandate

1973 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 267-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stewart Page ◽  
Elizabeth Yates
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Disorder ◽  
Civil Commitment ◽  
Hospitalized Patients ◽  
Present Sample ◽  
Large Sample ◽  
Canadian Law ◽  
Commitment Criteria

This paper examines the practice of involuntary mental hospitalization from the viewpoint of factors constituting effective, operating definitions of ‘dangerous’ mental disorder, as contrasted with the more narrow criteria which sanction commitment under Canadian law. A sorting and analysis of a large sample of commitment certificates indicated that few contained evidence of involuntarily hospitalized patients as being dangerous, nor did the present sample of certificates indicate clearly that operating commitment criteria have been altered with the new and liberalized legislative formulations of such criteria. Independent of the need to commit certain people in society, possible incongruities between ideal and operating criteria for civil commitment deserve to be scrutinized by responsible professionals in mental health and law.

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