Chapter 16: Law and Ethics in Abnormal Psychology

Tarasoff ruling

A California Supreme Court decision that obligates mental health professionals to Break Confidentiality when their clients pose a clear and imminent danger to another person

M'Naghten rule

A cognitive test of legal insanity that inquires whether the accused knew right from wrong when the crime was committed

Irresistible impulse test

A doctrine that contends that a defendant is not criminally responsible if he or she lacked the willpower to control his or her behavior

Competency to stand trial

A judgment that a defendant has a factual and rational understanding of the criminal proceedings and can rationally consult with counsel in presenting a defense

Diminished capacity

A law standard allowing a defendant to be convicted of a lesser offense due to mental impairment

Dangerousness

A person's potential for doing harm to the self or to others

Durham standard

A test of legal insanity also known as the product test--an accused person is not responsible if the unlawful act was the product of a mental disease or defect

Privileged communication

A therapist's Legal obligation to protect a client's privacy and to prevent the disclosure of confidential communications without a client's permission

Confidentiality

An Ethical standard that protects clients from disclosure of information without their consent

Right to treatment

The concept that mental patients who have been involuntarily committed have a right to receive therapy for their condition

Due process

The constitutional guarantee of fair treatment within the judicial system

Criminal commitment

The incarceration of an individual for having committed a crime

Civil commitment

The involuntary confinement of a person judged to be a danger to the self or to others, even though the person has not committed a crime

Least restrictive environment

The least restrictive alternative to freedom that is appropriate to a person's condition

Insanity defense

The legal argument used by defendants who admit that they have committed a crime but plead not guilty because they were mentally disturbed at the time of the offense

Deinstitutionalization

The shifting of responsibility for the care of mental patients from large central institutions to agencies within local communities