PSY240H5 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Mental Health Law, Constitution Act, 1982, Mental Health Professional
Document Summary
Lecture 11: mental disorder and the law: mental disorders in canadian law. Canadian law assumes that people can and do think and act in a deliberate and reasoned manner. Canadian law recognizes that in some cases mental disorder may cause cognitive or volitional impairment. The law typically defines mental disorder as: impairment of psychological functioning that is internal, stable, and involuntary, rather than situational or contextual. This is a much narrower definition than recognized by mental health professionals and the dsm-5. Insanity: a term used in the legal system instead of mental illness. The criminal code includes provisions for dealing with people who may suffer from mental disorder that renders them not criminally responsible: common law is also referred to as case law, and includes both constitutional and statutory laws. There are many levels of court that make decision based on interpretations of existing law: decisions made at lower level courts could be reviewed, with the.
