91172.pdf

Impact of Mental Health Law Doctrines on Families: Paternalism and Parens Patriae 207

the parents relinquished their parental control to the county, whereupon the boy was
placed in a mental hospital. Not long after, the youth filed a lawsuit requesting that
the court "place him in a less drastic environment suitable to his needs" (Parham v.
J.R., 1978).
This example demonstrates the ramifications of what may occur when a person is
deemed incapable of making his/her own decisions and placed under the guardian-
ship of the state. The majority of these individuals are juveniles, elders, and persons
who are found to be "out of sound" mind/mentally ill. This is the basic premise
at work in the doctrines of paternalism and parens patriae; namely, that the interven-
tion of the state in the life of an individual determined to be a serious threat to
him/herself and/or others is warranted and necessary. Within this framework, this
section explores the development of parens patriae and paternalism in the realm of
civil commitment and how, specifically, it has influenced the role of the family in
such issues.

In the 1860s, E. P. W. Packard was committed to a mental institution by her husband.

Mrs. Packard, who was not in need of such care, was nevertheless institutionalized due

to an 1851 Illinois statute that stated:

Married women and infants who, in the judgment of the medical superintendents

of the state asylum... may be entered or detained in the hospital at the request

of the husband of the woman or guardian of the infant, without the evidence of

insanity required... (J. E. Myers, 1983-1984, p. 376)

Upon her release, Mrs. Packard began a nationwide campaign to adjust this law and

others like it. Through her efforts, several bills were eventually passed that restricted the

institutionalization of any person not found to be "insane or distracted by a verdict of a

jury..." (J. E. Myers, 1983-1984, p. 376).

Literature Review

Much of Western civilization perceives the family as a unit in which its members

have a duty to protect those who cannot care for themselves. This perception

rests upon the assumption that adults, due to maturity and experience, are more

knowledgeable than children and are better equipped to make decisions for their

offspring. This concept was fundamental in establishing the historical notions of

parens patriae and paternalism, whereby the state, similar to knowing family adults,

is entrusted with the responsibility of caring for those persons in need of mental

health care.

Analysis of parental obligation to care for family members depicts a different

picture. In reality, as the increasing number of child and elder abuse cases indicate,

this familial belief system is not always practiced. "Some parents may at times be

acting against the interests of their children" (Bartley v. Kremens, 1975, p. 1041).

Specifically, in terms of commitment, some parents, or other family members, may

not have the desire or energy to care for their unruly children or senile parent. In