Seattle University Collaborative Projects - International Academy of ...

est understood in the context of everyday experiences. By adopting this framework, secretkeeping can be understood as a covert action that is socially constructed between the secretkeeper and those within the individual’s social system. The aim of this study was to examinesecret keeping in the context of eating disorders and issues through an action theoretical lens.This presentation will outline findings from this examination; specifically, the nature of secretkeeping in the context of eating disorders/issues will be discussed.54. Education & Social HistoryWhere Mental Health Meets the Law: Rethinking the Education of AmericanLawyersJennifer Johnson, Behavioral Health Court, California, USAGeorge Woods, Morehouse School of Medicine (gwoods@georgewoodsmd.com)In May of 2012, George Woods, M.D. and Jennifer Johnson, J.D. started a continuing educationseries for lawyers in the United States. Where Mental Health Meets the Law is a comprehensivecurriculum designed to provide attorneys with tools to inform advocacy when mental health is anissue in a case. The United States Supreme Court reasoning in death penalty cases reveals adramatic evolution in thinking about the importance of understanding mental illness. Lawyersnow have a duty to vigorously investigate all aspects of a defendant’s life. According to JusticeO’Connor, understanding social history is central to the “moral inquiry into the culpability of thedefendant.” At the same time, advances in brain science are helping explain the impact oftrauma, poverty, illness and abuse on mental health. The progress in both law and science relatedto mental health is pushing the criminal justice system away from the harsh trend toward massimprisonment of people with mental illness. Many courts embrace the concept of therapeuticjurisprudence and recognize that quality mental health treatment results in enhanced publicsafety and better mental health outcomes for offenders. Although these changes have remainedlargely in the criminal courts, the concepts go beyond the realm of criminal law. Lawyers inmany practice areas encounter clients, witnesses and family members with mental illness. WhereMental Health Meets the Law is an effort to bring the principles learned on the battlefield ofcapital case litigation to a wider audience and to raise the standard of practice for Americanlawyers.Working with a Client Who Has Survived Torture: Barriers and Strategies forLawyers and Mental Health ExpertsDavid Nevin, Nevin Benjamin McKay & Bartlett, LLP, Boise, USA (dnevin@nbmlaw.com)Katherine Porterfield, Bellevue/NYU Program for Survivors of Torture, New York, USA(Portek01@med.nyu.edu)134