Racial disparities in involuntary outpatient commitment: are they real?
In this paper we explore racial disparities in outpatient civil commitment, using data from Kendra's Law in New York State. Overall, African Americans are more likely than whites to be involuntarily committed for outpatient psychiatric care in New York. However, candidates for outpatient commitment are largely drawn from a population in which blacks are overrepresented: psychiatric patients with multiple involuntary hospitalizations in public facilities. Whether this overrepresentation under court-ordered outpatient treatment is unfair depends on one's view: is it access to treatment and a less restrictive alternative to hospitalization, or a coercive deprivation of personal liberty?
Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, North Carolina, USA. jeffrey.swanson@duke.edu
Jeffrey
J
Swanson
Marvin
M
Swartz
Richard A
RA
Van Dorn
John
J
Monahan
Thomas G
TG
McGuire
Henry J
HJ
Steadman
Pamela Clark
PC
Robbins
D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000941:ethics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003068:Coercion; D003134:Commitment of Persons with Psychiatric Disorders / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000941:ethics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D054625:Healthcare Disparities / Q000941:ethics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000208:ethnology*; D009518:New York; D011287:Prejudice; D014754:Violence / Q000941:ethics / Q000208:ethnology / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000517:prevention & control; D044465:White People / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*