NCJ Number
232391
Date Published
1997
Length
32 pages
Annotation
This booklet reviews the history of the University of Virginia's Institute of Law, Psychiatry and Public Policy "the Institute," including the reason for its establishment, its mission statement, and the work it has done over the past 20 years in various areas related to mental health and the law.
Abstract
In 1977, the Institute was established at the University of Virginia for the purpose of offering postgraduate fellowship programs in mental health law and forensic psychiatry, which were offered in collaboration with the Schools of Medicine and Law as well as the University of Virginia Hospital. Since its creation, the Institute's staff, fellows, and associates have participated in nearly every important social reform that has occurred in law and psychiatry. In addition, the Institute has produced a body of literature that will influence mental health law and public policy reforms for years to come. The various sections of this booklet review the Institute's efforts to improve mental health law in the areas of civil commitment; coercion that strips patients of their moral rights to decisionmaking autonomy; the mental competence of persons to make decisions and engage in other tasks; community-based forensic assessment; the death penalty and related psychiatric testimony; the insanity defense; human rights; and the link between violence and mental illness. The contributions of particular individuals associated with the Institute over the years are also described.