NCJ Number
130399
Editor(s)
J C Beck
Date Published
1990
Length
223 pages
Annotation
Thirteen chapters by various experts in the psychiatric and legal fields examine legal issues in various circumstances that pose a conflict between the psychiatrist's duty to protect confidential patient communications and the psychiatrist's duty to act to prevent foreseeable harm that may be done by the patient to another person.
Abstract
The book is divided into two broad sections. Chapters in the first section cover basic issues in the conflict, an overview of pertinent law, and discussions of applications of the law in specific clinical settings. Chapters address clinical practice in private office practice, in the emergency room, and in the hospital. The chapter on private practice presents several case examples, each with a detailed discussion of evaluation and treatment issues. This discussion is applicable to practice in any setting. The second major section presents chapters on specific clinical situations in which the duty to protect others arises. There are chapters on issues relating to children and families, on sexual misconduct of therapists, on HIV-positive patients, on patients with dual diagnoses of mental disorder and substance abuse, and on the problematic diagnoses of antisocial personality and posttraumatic stress disorder. There is also a chapter on what happens when a State requires psychiatrists to assess whether their patients should be allowed to drive. The final chapter presents a clinical case in which the patient posed a unique threat to the potential victim. Chapter references