Law and Psychiatry: The Legal Constitution of the Psychiatric System

Much of the literature on law and psychiatry is premised upon the notions that the two disciplines co-exist in a relationship of mutual antagonism. This observation is equally applicable whichever of the two dominant concerns of the literature is considered. The first of these concerns is the moral philosophical debate concerning the responsibility of individuals for their wrongful acts. The second, and more diverse body of literature is directed towards analysing the emergence, content and operation of these legal rules which constitute, regulate and legitimise the practice of psychiatry. Often the terms law and psychiatry are employed when what is really meant is lawyers and psychiatrists, or, more accurately, some lawyers and some psychiatrists. Nowhere is this more evident than in debates about free will and determinism.