Psychiatry, Human Rights and the Law

1. The historical background: the past 25 years since the Mental Health Act of 1959 Martin Roth; 2. The social and medical consequences of recent legal reforms of mental health law in the USA Alan A. Stone; 3. The recent Mental Health Act in the United Kingdom Robert Bluglass; 4. Medical and social consequences of the Italian Psychiatric Care Act of 1978 P. Sarteschi, G. B. Cassano, M. Mauri and A. Petracca; 5. Lessons for the future drawn from United States legislation and experience Robert J. Cambell; 6. Recent developments in relation to mental health and the law in the Federal Republic of Germany H. Helmchen; 7. Psychopathy and dangerousness William H. Reid; 8. Dangerousness in social perspective Jean Floud; 9. Psychiatric explanations as excuses Nigel Walker; 10. Detention of patients: administrative problems facing Mental Health Review Tribunals Sir John Wood; 11. Developments in forensic psychiatry services in the National Health Service John R. Hamilton; 12. The role of psychiatry in prisons and 'the right to punishment John Gunn; 13. Human rights in mental health Larry Gostin; 14. Changes ion mental health legislation as indicators of changing values and policies Margaret A. Somerville; 15. The Danish experience: one model of psychiatric testimony to courts of law Villars Lunn; 16. A postscript on the discussions at the Cambridge Conference on Society, Psychiatry and the Law Martin Roth and Robert Bluglass.