Seattle University Collaborative Projects - International Academy of ...

graduate from a MHC have a reintegrative shaming experience that affirms they are not definedby their deviant behaviors, they are respected, and they have been forgiven and welcomed backinto the community; thus, they gain or renew confidence in themselves which reduces thelikelihood that they will commit a crime.Considering Mental Health Courts and the Spectrum of Mentally DisorderedOffendersWilliam H. Fisher, University of Massachusetts, Lowell & University of Massachusetts MedicalCenter (bill.fisher@umassmed.edu)Empirical research has found that not all mentally disordered offenders are arrested for the sametype of crimes or have the same influences in their offending behaviors. This paper willcategorize mentally disordered offenders into coherent groups useful for multiple analyticpurposes. It will discuss how individuals in each of these groups may be affected by mentalhealth courts and, in particular, by the program components and processes described in thepapers presented in this session.30. Compulsory Community CareIs Compulsory Mental Health Treatment Compatible with Mental HealthRecovery?Allison Alexander, Edinburgh Napier University (a.alexander@napier.ac.uk)The existence of laws allowing compulsory detention and treatment has been questioned bymany for a range of reasons (see Eastman and Peay 1999). More recently in an article for theScottish Recovery Network, Mary O’Hagan (2012) has described compulsory legal powers as‘the elephant in the recovery room’. Those who write about mental health recovery (e.g. Repperand Perkins 2003) emphasise the importance of mental health service users feeling in control oftheir own lives. In contrast, a lack of control is often experienced by people within the mentalhealth system especially if placed there against their will. This presentation will examine whethermodern mental health law with an emphasis on liberal social welfare principles and rights iscompatible with a recovery focused mental health system. With reference to the Mental Health(Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act the presenter will offer an analysis of whether the Scottishapproach to compulsory detention and treatment and the Scottish policy objective of recoveryfocused practice are fundamentally incompatible.77