Abnormal Psychology Legal And Ethical Issues

Front 1

civil commitment laws

Back 1

Legal proceedings that determine a person is mentally disordered and may be hospitalized, even involuntarily.

Front 2

clinical efficacy axis

Back 2

One of a proposed set of guidelines for evaluating clinical interventions on the evidence of their effectiveness (compare with clinical utility axis).

Front 3

clinical utility axis

Back 3

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 (compare with clinical efficacy axis).

Front 4

competence

Back 4

Ability of legal defendants to participate in their own defense and understand the charges and the roles of the trial participants.

Front 5

criminal commitment

Back 5

Legal procedure by which a person found not guilty of a crime by reason of insanity must be confined in a psychiatric hospital.

Front 6

dangerousness

Back 6

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

Front 7

deinstitutionalization

Back 7

Systematic removal of people with severe mental illness or mental retardation from institutions like psychiatric hospitals.

Front 8

diminished capacity

Back 8

Evidence of an abnormal mental condition in people that causes criminal charges against them requiring intent or knowledge to be reduced to lesser offenses requiring only reckless or criminal neglect.

Front 9

duty to warn

Back 9

Mental health professional''s responsibility to break confidentiality and notify the potential victim whom a client has specifically threatened.

Front 10

expert witness

Back 10

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

Front 11

impulse-control disorders

Back 11

Disorders in which a person acts on an irresistible, but potentially harmful, impulse.

Front 12

inappropriate affect

Back 12

Emotional displays that are improper for the situation.

Front 13

insanity defense

Back 13

Legal plea that a defendant should not be held responsible for a crime because that person was mentally ill at the time of the offense.

Front 14

mental illness

Back 14

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.

Front 15

parens patriae

Back 15

Latin term (parent of his country) used to describe when the government takes on the role of guardian for a minor or person incapacitated.

Front 16

transinstitutionalization

Back 16

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