Document Detail


Commentary: compassion at the core of forensic ethics.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  16186205     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
In 1982, Dr. Alan Stone raised a central dilemma in ethics for forensic psychiatry that has prompted significant and important discussion of the concerns about twisting justice, prostituting the profession, and operating without adequate ethics guidelines in the course of our work. In presidential addresses to the membership of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law (AAPL), Dr. Paul Appelbaum and Dr. Ezra Griffith have attempted to deal with Stone's challenges, the former by providing a theory of forensic ethics, the latter by advocating cultural formulation and narrative as the methodology of our work. In his present contribution, Dr. Griffith advances the idea of narrative to involve compassion for the subject of the evaluation. In so doing, he brings us to a far more satisfactory resolution of the dilemma described by Dr. Stone. The obligation to show compassion deserves to be at the core of any valuable statement of forensic ethics. The role of compassion in justice, as discussed, for example, by Simone Weil, warrants further interdisciplinary study.
Authors:
Michael A Norko
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Publication Detail:
Type:  Comment; Journal Article    
Journal Detail:
Title:  The journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law     Volume:  33     ISSN:  1093-6793     ISO Abbreviation:  J. Am. Acad. Psychiatry Law     Publication Date:  2005  
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2005-09-27     Completed Date:  2005-11-21     Revised Date:  2007-11-15    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  9708963     Medline TA:  J Am Acad Psychiatry Law     Country:  United States    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  386-9     Citation Subset:  E; IM    
Affiliation:
CMHC, Law and Psychiatry Division, 34 Park Street, New Haven, CT 06519, USA. michael.norko@yale.edu
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
African Americans / psychology
Attitude of Health Personnel
Capital Punishment / legislation & jurisprudence
Criminal Law / ethics,  standards
Empathy*
Ethics, Medical*
Ethics, Professional*
Expert Testimony / ethics,  standards
Forensic Psychiatry / ethics,  standards*
Guidelines as Topic
Humans
Moral Obligations
Physicians / ethics,  psychology
Comments/Corrections
Comment On:
J Am Acad Psychiatry Law. 2005;33(3):371-81   [PMID:  16186203 ]
J Am Acad Psychiatry Law. 1997;25(3):233-47   [PMID:  9323651 ]

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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