The case against outpatient commitment

Among individuals with severe mental illness, a small proportion commit violent acts. Since these individuals are often not engaged in ambulatory treatment, there has been a move in the states to legislate and implement outpatient commitment programs. The American Psychiatric Association Council on Psychiatry and Law has issued a Resource Document that supports the use of mandatory outpatient treatment. The purpose of this article is to challenge the logic and legitimacy of using the courts to force treatment compliance of individuals who are neither incompetent by legal standards nor at imminent risk of harming themselves or others.