Ab Psych Ch 15

Front 1

civil commitment

Back 1

the legal process of placing a person in a psych facility, even against his or her will. Or anything a judge tells you, you must do – mandated treatment of any kind.

Front 2

criminal commitment

Back 2

the legal process of confining a person found not guilty by reason of insanity in a mental institution.

Front 3

conservator

Back 3

someone in charge of someone incapable of taking care of themselves - court ordered.

Front 4

Tarasoff Case

Back 4

the duty to warn potential victims and police.

Front 5

1972 Wyatt v. Stickney

Back 5

established minimum standard of care provided by psych hospitals.

- humane psychological and physical environment.

- qualified staff in sufficient numbers.

- individualized treatment plans.

Front 6

O'Connor v. Donaldson

Back 6

Donaldson was was confined w/out treatment for 14 years.

Front 7

Right to refuse treatment - Rogers v. Okin.

Back 7

can't force medication on patients. unless they are dangerous/emergency.

Front 8

Insanity defense

Back 8

a legal defense in which a defendant in a criminal case pleads not guilty on the basis of insanity.

the defense has to prove that the person didn't know what they were doing.

has to be the result of a mental disease or defect. can't use antipersonality disorder

Front 9

competency to stand trial

Back 9

the ability of criminal defendants to understand the charges and proceeding brought against them and to participate in their own defense.

may be confined to a mental hospital, get treatment, so they can participate.

Front 10

determining the length of criminal commitment

Back 10

gray area - Jones case - ended up in a mental hospital for way longer than his actual case would be.

Front 11

predicting dangerousness

Back 11

mental health professionals tend to over predict dangerousness - it's partially about licensing - it's on the line.

Front 12

the post hoc problem

Back 12

recognizing violent tendencies after a violent incident occurs is easier than before.

Front 13

Base-Rate Problems

Back 13

the relative difficulty of making predictions about infrequent or rare events.

Front 14

problems defining dangerousness

Back 14

one difficulty is the lack of agreement about what types of behavior are violent or dangerous.

Front 15

unlikeliness of disclosure of direct threats of violence

Back 15

client not likely to inform specifics.

more likely vague and nonspecific.

therapist must infer dangerousness from hostile gestures and veiled threats.

vague, indirect threats of violence are less-reliable indicators of dangerousness than specific direct threats.

Front 16

predicting behavior in the community from behavior in the hospital

Back 16

long-term predictions are often wrong - because people are on their best behavior in the hospital

Front 17

is mental illness a good predictor of violence?

Back 17

research evidence shows that this is at best a weak predictor of violent behavior.

Front 18

Sentencing: Prison vs. Commitment?

Back 18

if you are declared competent to stand trial - you are going to prison if found guilty.

however, the diagnosis can be a mitigating factor - example: diminished capacity may lighten sentence.

Front 19

mitigating circumstances

Back 19

things that help the defendant

Front 20

aggravating circumstances

Back 20

things that hurt the defendant