Dangerousness of Civil Commitment Candidate: A Six-Month Follow-Up

• NCJ Number: 128317
• Journal: Law and Human Behavior Volume: 14 Issue: 6 Dated: (December 1990) Pages: 551-567
• Author(s): V A Hiday
• Date Published: 1990
• Length: 17 pages
• Grant Number(s): R01 MH37849
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Health and Human Services
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study followed a large, statewide sample of civil commitment candidates both in and out of the hospital for six months following their postcourt hearings to determine their postcourt dangerousness.

Abstract

It objectively measures dangerousness by dividing it into five legal components of behavior: (1) type, (2) object, (3) frequency, (4) weapon/means, and (5) severity of outcome. Using data from ward charts, readmission evaluations, recommitment affidavit, and arrest and community mental health center records, it describes candidates' dangerousness in terms of those five components and compares that dangerousness with the alleged dangerous behavior that brought them into the civil commitment process. It finds that candidates do not tend to be dangerous in the six months following their court hearings. 1 table, 13 notes, and 60 references (Author abstract)