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Reflection – Ethical and Legal Implications in Mental Healthcare

One of the issues that I found interesting in the course and which had a positive impact is the ethical and legal implications in the mental healthcare setting found in chapter 16 on pages 485-509. In every profession, it is required that an employee abide by the legal requirements and maintain work ethics for the period they would be working for the organization. Based on this, legal and ethical issues are of great significance in guiding an individual in their career, and this is not an exemption for professionals in the field of psychology. The field of abnormal psychology involves dealing with mentally ill individuals, and therefore their ability to make a judgement is highly reduced. Based on this, abnormal psychology begins with the discussion of the criminal versus civil commitment.

Criminal commitment by a mental health patient occurs when a certain law has been broken, while the civil commitment occurs when the commitment is perceived necessary to prevent a patient or other individual from being hurt. In criminal justice, insanity can be used as a defense against crime, which can lead to the offender’s acquittance. Based on this, it is essential to confine a mentally ill person from the public for reasons of safety in the absence of a crime, and this will help in reducing the chances of the person committing a crime. I will use this concept of civil commitment in my career to preventing the mentally ill from harming not only themselves but also the general public. Involuntary commitment to preventing crime is an ethical practice that helps professionals act in accordance with the law, bring the issue of legal and ethical considerations in the field of abnormal psychology.