Understanding Treatment Without Consent: An Analysis of the Work of the Mental Health Act Commission / Edition 1

by Ian Shaw, Hugh Middleton

Overview

In Understanding Treatment Without Consent, key contributors examine the work of the UK Mental Health Act Commission (MHAC), which was established to ensure the care and rights of people subjected to the various sections of the 1983 Mental Health Act. Based on a research project funded by the Department of Health, the book also offers a broader exploration of mental health provision in both historical and contemporary contexts, discussing whether mental health reforms have learned the lessons of history. The book builds on earlier work on treatment without consent by providing a more policy-oriented account of mental health law and regulation in the context of health service modernization, discussing contemporary issues facing the MHAC and looking at its future role.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780754618867
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	10/28/2007
Pages:	138
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Ian Shaw is Professor of Social Work and Head of Social Work at the University of Nottingham, UK. Hugh Middleton is Associate Professor in the School of Sociology & Social Policy, University of Nottingham, UK. Jeffrey Cohen is former Head of Policy of the Mental Health Act Commission, and freelance researcher on mental health services.

Table of Contents

Contents: Introduction, Ian Shaw; A short history of mental health, Ian Shaw; Tracing the development of the Mental Health Act Commission and its predecessors, Jeffrey Cohen; Exploring visiting activities of the Commission, Ian Shaw, Hugh Middleton and Martin Chamberlain; The reform of the Mental Health Act, Jeffrey Cohen; Socially determined perceptions of risk are reflected in the decision to request a 2nd opinion appointed doctor's visit, Hugh Middleton and Ian Shaw; To treat or not to treat? Should the treatability criterion for those with psychopathic disorder be abandoned? Conor Duggan; Law, regulation and the Mental Health Act Commission, Simon Boys and Michael J. Gunn; Reforming the Mental Health Act: a successor to the Mental Health Act Commission, Jeffrey Cohen; Index.

Editorial Reviews

'This book concerns a very important area of health and social care - the regulation of the ways in which British citizens of all ethnicities can be deprived of their liberty where they have a mental illness that might cause harm to themselves or others. Since new UK legislation is struggling to develop new ways of extending these powers for those deemed to have severe personality disorder, this is a very timely and welcome review of the context in which such powers are regulated, and the experiences of patients subject to detention. Ian Shaw and Hugh Middleton have assembled a rich multifaceted collection of chapters covering history, data, analysis and legal argument to illuminate the contemporary issues and future for regulation, and the strengths and weaknesses of the alternatives available.' Nick Manning, University of Nottingham, UK 'This is a timely publication coming on the eve of the operationalization of new mental health legislation covering England and Wales...Understanding Treatment Without Consent contains eight brief chapters covering different aspects of the work of the Mental Health Act Commission...the first providing a brief history of mental health, and the last considering the future without the commission...' Metapsychology Online Reviews '... this is a highly useful book for anyone concerned with mental health and the balance between individual and community rights. The intractability of the problem is brought home by the editors pointing to the fact that despite all the improvements in treatment and laws for protection, the basic science of mental health has not advanced much and the hospitals still provide poor care.' The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 'This book describes how the Commission carries out its tasks and the sort of information it collects. But it also goes further..For those who wish to understand better what the MHAC does this book is worth reading.' The British Journal of Psychiatry 'Don't be deterred by the book

From the Publisher