Law and Psychiatry: Scandinavia in the 1980s

The major policies and practices with regard to the civil and criminal commitment of the mentally ill in the Scandinavian countries during the 1970s and 1980s are described and discussed. Deinstitutionalization, community work, and outpatient treatment within geographically defined sectors have been...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 1986-03, Vol.484 (1), p.144-154
Main Author: Ojesjo, Leif
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alcoholism
Commitment and detention
Commitment of Mentally Ill - legislation & jurisprudence
Community psychiatry
Criminal law
Criminals
Denmark
Finland
Forensic entomology
Forensic psychiatry
Health administration
Hospitalization
Iceland
Institutionalization (Persons)
International law
Law
Legal aspects
Mental health
Mental Illness
Mental institutions
Mental Patients
Mentally ill
Norway
Offenders
Patients
Psychiatric hospitals
Psychiatry
Psychiatry, Forensic
Scandinavia
Sweden
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Summary:The major policies and practices with regard to the civil and criminal commitment of the mentally ill in the Scandinavian countries during the 1970s and 1980s are described and discussed. Deinstitutionalization, community work, and outpatient treatment within geographically defined sectors have been introduced in all the Nordic countries. At the same time, criminally committed mental patients constitute an increasing proportion of the involuntarily hospitalized population. The special defense of insanity and tests such as McNaughtan are not used in the Scandinavian countries. The handling and disposition of severely mentally ill criminal defendants is closer to the notions of guilty but mentally ill in some U. S. jurisdictions, although in Scandinavia such persons are hospitalized and do not receive penal sentences. Even though forensic psychiatry has come under much criticism, there is still a need for psychiatric evaluations for courts and there is still a need for the provision of mental health treatment, rehabilitation, and follow-up for mentally disordered offenders.
ISSN:0002-7162
1552-3349
DOI:10.1177/0002716286484001011