Preview

Tarasoff V. Regents: A Case Study

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
793 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Tarasoff V. Regents: A Case Study
Violence Risk Assessment Essay

When an individual seeks out a therapist, they are morelikely to be struggling with a mental disorder. Many individual’s struggle with depression, anxiety and phobias. Some studies have represented that more than 25% of adults received mental health treatment, yet the individuals who received mental health treatment and received medication, but no therapy. Individuals may seek treatment to treat the problem they believe is controlling their life, or a form of guidance. Throughout the following essay we will be considering the case of Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California and discuss why the following case is important to mental health clinicians. Along with describing the violence risk assessment
…show more content…
This case creates issues on psychiatrist not being able to accurately predict the dangerousness of their client. With the increasing approach on the importance to reducing violence. Psychiatrist have since been utilizing different instruments and approaches to measure violence within their patients. The violent risk assessment instrument is decision making undertaking in which is utilized on individual’s future violent behavior is of concern. “In relation to mental health services, this includes reducing violence by people with mental disorders to themselves or others,” (Roychowdhury, & Adshead, 2014 p.78).Despite mental health disorder being a slight influence to the risk of violence compared to others such as substance abuse, their still needs to be a relatively similar approach on handling the possible outcome. These following measure in which clinician might use to meet the requirements provided for in Tarasoff would be addressing the likelihood of whether or not something bad will happen. “Risk assessment is therefore about assessing the likelihood that something bad will happen, which will cause distress and harm to others: or, to put it another way, risk = hazard + outrage”( Roychowdhury, & Adshead, 2014 p.780). In this case, the psychiatrist would then warn the individual if they feel after completing a risk assessment that they may pose great

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California was a case in 1976 which the Supreme Court of California decided that mental health professionals have a duty to protect individuals who are being threatened with bodily harm by any of their patients. Originally, in 1974, the decision was mandated warning the threatened person or persons but, in the year 1976 the California Supreme Court decided that it was intended for a “duty to protect” a victim. Mr. Poddar was a graduate student in the University of California, Berkeley. He met Tatiana Tarasoff at folk dancing classes at the International House. They saw each other on a weekly basis and later on slept together on New Year’s Eve. Poddar interpreted the act as a serious relationship. Tarasoff…

    • 341 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Josh Renville, an 18 year old student attending Fargo North High School has petitioned against the school in question for violating his first amendment right to freedom of speech. The school prohibited Renville from using a photograph in which he his holding his favorite rifle for his senior portrait in the yearbook. Renville claims that by prohibiting the photograph, the school is infringing on his rights to freedom of symbolic speech. Despite Renville’s claims, the actions taken by the administrators at Fargo North High were completely constitutional. Fargo North was acting well within their constitutional limits to promote the ideals of public education, to properly monitor any media that would have been associated with the school, and to limit any action that inherently interfered with the school’s disciplinary…

    • 815 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In 1976, the California Supreme Court ruled that psychotherapists have a duty to warn and protect potential victims if their patients made threats or otherwise behaved as if they presented a serious danger of violence to another. This ruling happened because of the Tarasoff Case of 1969, in which the court determined the need for therapists to protect the public was more important than protecting patient-therapist confidentiality. (Vitelli 1)…

    • 615 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Tarasoff case is the case that “established a clinician’s duty to warn” (Mottarella, n.d.). Prosenjit Poddar, a student at University of California Berkeley (UCAL) was a patient of Dr. Lawrence Moore, a psychologist a hospital affiliated with UCAL. Poddar was seeking treatment for an emotional breakdown after being romantically rejected by Tatiana Tarasoff. In the course of therapy Poddar related to Dr. Moore his intent to kill Tarasoff that fall. Dr. Moore conferred with his superiors at the facility and the determination, customary at that time, was made to have Poddar involuntarily committed. Dr. Moore notified the campus police and requested that Poddar be picked up, warning that Poddar can appear quite rational at times. Campus…

    • 477 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The case of Hopkins v. Spring Independent School District the Texas Supreme Court had another decision to make in reference to school district liability under the Tort Claims Act. In this case an elementary student in Spring I.S.D., Adeline Hopkins, allegedly sustained an injury to the head after being pushed into a stack of chairs in a room at school. Adeline had cerebral palsy and was prone to certain behaviors that occurred after the incident. While at school that day she had mild convulsions and developed cold sweats. She became dazed and incoherent. The school failed to contact the student’s parents to inform them of the events that had taken place. On the bus route home on that same day Adeline suffered severe convulsions. The bus…

    • 568 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Interoffice Memo

    • 363 Words
    • 2 Pages

    A recent decision in the rehearing of the Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California case, mandates that not only should mental health professionals and social service workers warn a potential victim of possible harm by their client, but there is also a duty to protect the potential vicitm. This can be carried out through any or all of the following steps:…

    • 363 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Upon arriving in America, the Puritans have a charter granted by the king which gives them some measure of self-government. The "Massachusetts Bay School Law" established in 1642 expressed the Puritans ideas on education, religion, and the study of a "particular" calling. Every Puritan was expected to abide by the law and to report offenders, who were consequently reprimanded or punished accordingly.…

    • 410 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Client Paper

    • 306 Words
    • 2 Pages

    On October 8, 1976 there was a ruling on the Tarasoff v. Regents of the University Of California case. In which the supreme court of California held that mental health professionals have the right and is their duty to protect individuals who are threatened or being threatened by a patient by bodily harm. In 1974 the original decision stated that the threatened individual must be warned. The professional may discharge the duty in a number of ways, including notifying police, warning the victim, and taking other reasonable steps to protect the threatened individual.…

    • 306 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Andrea Yates

    • 1003 Words
    • 5 Pages

    People commit murder for many reasons, whether it is out of anger, love, jealousy, pure rage, etc., but why is it that we never speak of those who just seem more inclined to the extreme emotion, or lack of, that can lead to murder? In fact, “Approximately 1 in 25 adults in the U.S.—10 million, or 4.2%—experiences a serious mental illness in a given year that substantially interferes with or limits one or more major life activities.” (Mental Health by the Numbers) Based on the statistics, a decent chunk of Americans are burdened with a serious mental illness (S.M.I.), but not all of those who are impacted take the next step to get help.…

    • 1003 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mental Health, Crime and Criminal Justice (Winstone, 2016) is a refreshingly candid look at the challenges related to persons with mental illness(es). Through multiple perspectives, the book sheds light on the often overlooked and behind the scene issues that arise when mentally ill individuals commit crime. The book goes beyond the obvious problems individuals with mental illness face by delving into more obscure but important issues, thus giving the reader a deeper understanding of the material covered in each chapter. Every chapter contributes unique insight to the underlying theme of the book in such a way to indirectly prompt the reader to critically think about the relationship between mental health, crime and criminal justice.…

    • 543 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Many individuals like to think that violence does not exist, but it does and it is considered a “public health problem that has a substantial impact on individuals, their families and communities, and society, and it affects millions of people physically, mentally, and comes with a lot of economic consequences” (Understanding and Preventing, 2013, p. 2). This course also shed light other issues by reading articles on issues that might affect our jobs, LEOs, people department or the…

    • 1000 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A. Mental illness in itself is not a police problem it is better suited for doctors to handle, but along with the mental illness comes crimes, suicidal people, and neighborhood disturbances which are all police problems. Police officers must evaluate the subject and determine if they pose a threat to themselves or other people in society and if they do the police officer should send that person to be evaluated by a mental health doctor. Police Officers must consider the persons mental state when contacting them for safety of both the officer and the mental ill person. Because mentally ill people may be delusional they may see the police as a threat and try to harm them. Also because these people don’t have the ability to pay for long term care their illness continues and worsens in time. The majority of incidents involving persons suffering from mental disorders do not result in violence. However, in some cases mentally disturbed persons can be extremely dangerous to themselves and those around them.…

    • 592 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Davis argues that it is unfashionable to imply that mentally ill people are disproportionately involved in criminal or violent acts” (174). He also points out that the media, “by selective reporting,” have exaggerated the crime rates of mentally ill people and therefore have contributed to the perception of this group as a threat to society, “further maligning an already stigmatized group” (174). The author explains that methodological problems in research have shaped the widespread belief that mentally ill people are more dangerous. His findings are that “psychiatric patients tended to get arrested at a higher rate”; factors associated with offenses by mentally ill people were the same as those associated with offenses by members of the general public”; and that “the problems experienced were likely a function of the system, with less accessible community resources contributing to a diversion of some mentally ill patients into the criminal justice system.” Based on his research, David concluded that the answer to whether mentally ill people are more dangerous is uncertain. He expanded, saying that “If one assumes that psychiatric patients are being arrested at higher rates, one cannot simplistically infer that psychiatric patients constitute a menace to…

    • 1799 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Risk in Mental Health

    • 1779 Words
    • 8 Pages

    With the closing of the large intuitions in the early 1990s and the rise of smaller units being set up within communities, the policy change ideology was for individuals who have a mental illness to live independent lives, and to learn skills to function within society. It was deemed that these vulnerable individual’s faced more risk from staff than what small risk they posed to others. ( k272, Reader, p.138). However if there was a need for intervention then there would be the power to detain that person against their wishes in hospital to ensure their safety and that of others. The Mental Health Act (1983) is the piece of statute law in the United Kingdom which allows this. This act is reviewed and regulated by the Mental Health Act Commission (MHAC). With this change in policy, there has been panic due to perceived risks which are faced by the public from individuals whom suffer mental distress. This has been reinforced by the media. (K272, Unit 14, p.40). These fears which the Public share are firstly exaggerated and are inaccurate with respect to the correlation between mental illness and violence. ( K272, unit 14, p.38, Start et al, 2004, ). Research has shown that self - harm and suicidal risk is much greater, than that of violence to the public, even though the media represents, it differently. (Mind, 2006).…

    • 1779 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Rice, M. E., & Harris, G. T. (1997). The treatment of mentally disordered offenders. Psychology. Public Policy & Law, 3…

    • 1291 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays