Encyclopedia of Psychology and Law

and therapeutic considerations. Unlike the medical

model of mental health law that prevailed in an earlier

time, it does not privilege therapeutic values over

others. Instead, it seeks to determine whether law’s

antitherapeutic effects can be reduced and its potential

to bring about mental health can be enhanced without

subordinating due process and other justice values.

Therapeutic jurisprudence scholarship and law

reform have had an important impact on mental

health law, particularly in the areas of civil commit-

ment, outpatient commitment, the right to refuse

treatment, incompetency to stand trial and be exe-

cuted, the legal insanity defense, the psychotherapist-

patient privilege and its exceptions, guardianship,

hearing rights, discrimination, the avoidance of

stigmatization, and sex offender law. It has func-

tioned to reinforce patient rights by identifying the

therapeutic value of their recognition and to pioneer

new rights, such as the right of people with mental ill-

ness to engage in future planning through the use of

advance directive instruments. It has enlarged the dia-

logue and debate within mental health law, making it

more interdisciplinary, and refocusing its attention on

achieving therapeutic ends as well as protecting legal

rights. In short, it has put mental health back into

mental health law.

Moreover, it has expanded the field of mental

health law, addressing issues in other areas of law that

have a significant impact on the mental health of those

affected. It has spread across the legal landscape,

emerging as a mental health approach to law gener-

ally. It thus has had a transformative effect not only on

the core areas of mental health law but also on related

fields such as health law, juvenile law, family law, cor-

rectional law, discrimination law, tort law, and others.

It also has had an important impact on reconceptu-

alizing the role of judges and the courts. Modern

courts often deal with a variety of psychosocial prob-

lems involving individuals in need of treatment and

rehabilitation. Thus, problems of substance abuse,

domestic violence, child abuse and neglect, juvenile

delinquency, and family disintegration increasingly

have come to the attention of the courts. The approach

of therapeutic jurisprudence has helped to pioneer new

judicial models for dealing with these issues, including

specialized treatment or problem-solving courts such

as drug treatment court, domestic violence court, men-

tal health court, and unified family court. These new

judicial models, inspired by and applying principles

of therapeutic jurisprudence, represent an expansion

of traditional mental health law to additional contexts

in which the law seeks to improve the mental health

and psychological functioning of the individual and

the society.

Bruce J. Winick

See alsoCivil Commitment; Competency to Stand Trial;

Forcible Medication; Guardianship; Outpatient

Commitment, Involuntary; Patient’s Rights; Psychiatric

Advance Directives; Sex Offender Civil Commitment;

Therapeutic Jurisprudence

Further Readings

Perlin, M. L. (2003). Mental disability law: Civil and

criminal.Albany, NY: LexisNexis.

Wexler, D. B., & Winick, B. J. (1991). Essays in therapeutic

jurisprudence.Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press.

Winick, B. J. (1997). Therapeutic jurisprudence applied:

Essays on mental health law.Durham, NC: Carolina

Academic Press.

Winick, B. J. (1997). The right to refuse mental health

treatment.Washington, DC: American Psychological

Association.

Winick, B. J. (2005). Civil commitment: A therapeutic

jurisprudence model.Durham, NC: Carolina Academic

Press.

MENTAL HEALTHNEEDS

OFJUVENILEOFFENDERS

Recently, researchers and juvenile justice administrators

have recognized that rates of mental health disorders are

remarkably high among adolescent offenders. This find-

ing carries significant implications for policy and prac-

tice. Youth justice facilities are mandated to provide

necessary mental health treatment to detained adoles-

cent offenders with mental health needs. Furthermore,

mental disorders may interfere with youths’ capacities

to stand trial and/or culpability. This entry discusses

some recent advances that have been made in our under-

standing of mental health issues among juvenile offend-

ers and points out key gaps in knowledge.

Rates and Types of Mental

Disorders Among Juvenile Offenders

The mental health of adolescent offenders has been

identified as one of the single most important issues

Mental Health Needs of Juvenile Offenders——— 493

M-Cutler (Encyc)-45463.qxd 11/18/2007 12:43 PM Page 493