Compulsory hospital admissions: dangerous decisions?

The criterion of dangerousness as a justification for compulsory hospital admission remains pervasive in current British legislation. This study focuses on the actual use of the dangerousness criterion since the 1983 Mental Health Act. A consecutive series of 53 compulsory admissions to the Academic Unit, All Saints Hospital, Birmingham, England was studied. The investigation suggests that, despite the great debates on the dangerousness issue recently, there has been little, if any, shift in the way that psychiatrists use the concept of dangerousness in assessing persons for compulsory admissions. The results echo the earlier work of Bean (1980). Dangerousness is not the primary issue of concern in terms of compulsory admission. The present study suggests however that psychiatrists are not making dangerousness assessments in a stereotypical manner.