Impact of restrictive civil commitment procedures on a prison psychiatric service
Bonovitz, J.C.; Guy, E.B.
American Journal of Psychiatry 136(8): 1045-1048
1979
ISSN/ISBN: 0002-953X PMID: 464129 DOI: 10.1176/ajp.136.8.1045Document Number: 212767
To assess the impact of restrictive civil commitment procedures, the authors studied the population of a prison psychiatric unit before and after the procedures were implemented. Their findings suggest that when the community finds it difficult to use the alternative of involuntary hospitalization, arrest and imprisonment are used to remove mentally ill people from the community.