Civil commitment is the legal process through which mentally ill patients are involuntarily hospitalized. In my opinion civil commitment is justified and necessary provided the set-out criteria adhere. Mental illness reduces an individual’s ability to reason and understand the need for care and treatment hence the need for external intervention through commitment to a hospital. It, therefore, helps to protect the individual from harm and places him or her under care that will improve his or her health. In many cases, the patient who faces civil commitment suffers from cognitive impairments which impair their rational decision-making capabilities significantly making hospitalization a step that serves in their best interests (Bartol & Bartol, 2014).
Civil commitment can be justified using the government’s police power interest and parens patriae interest. The government police power interest outlines the need for a patient who suffers mental illness to be committed to a hospital as a way of protecting the community from the acts of danger that the sick individual may be induced to perform as a result of mental instability and sickness (Bartol & Bartol, 2014). Parens patriae serves in the interests of the sick individual to protect him or her from harm by offering the best care that can be afforded in a hospital. Therefore, civil commitment is justifiable as a way of accomplishing the government’s interest for the individual and the community.
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Civil commitment is regulated by strict laws to avoid violation of human rights outlined in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments due process. The criteria for commitment has been tightened to reduce overreliance on the commitment of patients (Bartol & Bartol, 2014). The span of time spent in hospitalization has also been considerably reduced ensuring that most patients are discharged within thirty days. The commitment statute clearly outlines the meaning of mental illness and disability. To meet the commitment criteria, the condition must be severe, significant, and it should exhibit gross impairment of the patient ability to make rational decisions. This precise definition makes it possible to exclude other conditions such as drug addiction, alcoholism, and epilepsy among others which only warrant brief hospitalization if the patient is in a crisis. Civil commitment is justified to protect the community but most importantly to offer medical care to the sick patient.
Reference
Bartol, C. R., & Bartol, A. M. (2014). Introduction to Forensic Psychology: Research and Application . SAGE Publications.
