Mental Disability, Criminal Responsibility and Civil Commitment

Authors

Stephen J. Morse, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law SchoolFollow

ORCID

Stephen Morse 0000-0002-7260-5012

Document Type

Book Chapter

Publication Date

2018

Abstract

The early, formative years of American Psychology–Law Society (AP–LS) were generative for legally relevant psychological and psychiatric science and transformative politically. This chapter begins with an autobiographical sketch that explains my early interest in law and psychology and in issues of criminal responsibility and civil commitment in particular. It then turns to the history of the legal landscape in these contexts in the formative years, followed by a section that diagnoses the problems that beset these fields. Then I describe my attempts to remedy some of the problems. The conclusion assesses where we are now.

Publication Title

The Roots of Modern Psychology and Law: A Narrative History

Publication Citation

In The Roots of Modern Psychology and Law: A Narrative History (Thomas Grisso & Stanley L. Brodsky eds., Oxford 2018)

Repository Citation

Morse, Stephen J., "Mental Disability, Criminal Responsibility and Civil Commitment" (2018). All Faculty Scholarship. 2682.
https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/faculty_scholarship/2682