ABPN Forensic Psychiatry and Ethics Flashcards

Which concept refers to the likelihood that a released psychiatric patient will commit violence, assessed using validated instruments in forensic evaluations?

Answer: Violence risk assessment

Violence risk assessment uses structured professional judgment and actuarial tools to estimate the probability of future violence in forensic psychiatric evaluations.

Sexual contact between a psychiatrist and a patient is MOST accurately categorized as which type of boundary violation?

Answer: An egregious boundary violation that is always unethical and often illegal

Sexual contact between a psychiatrist and a patient is a serious boundary violation that is categorically unethical and constitutes grounds for license revocation and criminal charges in most jurisdictions.

A patient with bipolar disorder, currently stable, reveals a plan to kill a specific coworker. The psychiatrist warns the intended victim. Under which legal principle is this disclosure justified?

Answer: Duty to warn (Tarasoff doctrine)

The Tarasoff duty to warn/protect mandates disclosure to identifiable, threatened third parties when a patient makes credible threats of serious violence.

What is the legal standard used in most US states for civil involuntary psychiatric commitment?

Answer: Clear and convincing evidence

The Supreme Court in Addington v. Texas (1979) held that civil commitment requires clear and convincing evidence of mental illness and dangerousness.

Which landmark US Supreme Court case established that prisoners have a constitutional right to psychiatric treatment?

Answer: Estelle v. Gamble

Estelle v. Gamble (1976) established that deliberate indifference to the serious medical (and psychiatric) needs of prisoners violates the Eighth Amendment prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.

In the context of a psychiatric malpractice case involving suicide, which element is typically the MOST difficult to prove?

Answer: That the standard of care was breached (negligence)

In suicide malpractice cases, proving that the psychiatrist's specific action or inaction fell below the standard of care is the most contested and difficult element to establish.