Treating the Mentally Disordered Offender: Society's Uncertain, Complicated, and Changing Views
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
Winter 1994
Abstract
An examination of the legal aspects of the treatment of the mentally disordered offender (MDO), results in a clear consensus that the world is indeed a dangerous, confusing, cloud-shrouded place. MDOs may find themselves engulfed by a bewildering system, which although ostensibly devoted to their treatment, appears to provide little actual help. The general public may perceive MDOs as dangerous individuals assigned to a "treatment" system that neither reduces the likelihood of future dangerousness nor protects society from such behavior. Finally, the mental health professional, trying to respond simultaneously to the treatment needs of MDOs and the security needs of the community, may feel required to assume a role which appeases neither, but exposes the therapist to legal attack by both.
Was this content written or created while at USF?
Yes
Citation / Publisher Attribution
Florida State University Law Review, v. 21, no. 3, p. 729-871
Scholar Commons Citation
Hafemeister, Thomas and Petrila, John, "Treating the Mentally Disordered Offender: Society's Uncertain, Complicated, and Changing Views" (1994). Mental Health Law & Policy Faculty Publications. 357.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/mhlp_facpub/357
