The professional liability of behavioral scientists: An overview

✍ Scribed by Dr. Ronald Jay Cohen

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1983
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 908 KB
• Volume: 1
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0735-3936
• DOI: 10.1002/bsl.2370010105

✦ Synopsis

Issues regarding the question of what constitutes malpractice by psychologists, psychiatrists, and other mental health professionals, are reviewed. The legal concepts of negligence, professional liability, and causation are explained and related subjects including the duty of mental health professionals and what constitutes a breach of that duty are discussed and illustrated. Guidelines for avoiding legal jeopardy are also presented.

A record amount of malpractice litigation against physicians during the last decade has sensitized practitioners in all health-related professions to the need for an adequate understanding of the legal framework in which they function. Practitioners in the field of behavioral science, including psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, psychiatric nurses, occupational therapists and others have taken cognizance of a foreboding constellation of societal factors that may make them more vulnerable than ever before to the receipt of a summons and complaint alleging malpractice (Cohen