Professor Winick helped put together seven “TJ” sessions at the 30th International Congress on Law and Mental Health in Padua, Italy. He will be a speaker during the session titled “Therapeutic Jurisprudence & Mental Health Law” on June 25th. His presentation is titled “A Therapeutic Jurisprudence Perspective on Participation in Research by Subjects with Reduced Capacity.”
Abstract: People suffering from dementia, schizophrenia, and other forms of mental disability may not satisfy the usual requirements of competency to consent to participation in research. Aims: This paper will discuss whether standards of competency in this context should be relaxed so as to allow consent to participation in research by the subject’s surrogate or health care proxy. Method: This presentation suggests that the debate has insufficiently taken into account an additional consideration — the therapeutic one. An analysis of the therapeutic jurisprudence considerations that participation in research raises can further clarify the debate. Conclusion: An approach will be proposed for dealing with this issue.
Other abstracts for the two-day TJ sessions can be viewed here.
Professor Winick will also speak at a session titled “Health Law and Prevention: Professionals Working Together.” The title of his talk during this session is “Health Law and Prevention Systems Design: The Therapeutic Value of Apology.”
Abstract: This paper will address the question of whether apologies, either full apologies or partial ones, have therapeutic value for both the maker of the apology and its recipient. Legal disputes, particularly if they end up in highly contested litigation, can be extremely antitherapeutic for both parties. Settlement, either through negotiation or some form of alternative dispute resolution such as mediation, can allow both parties to avoid the stress and continued anger that litigation imposes, and can allow them to get past the dispute and to experience a measure of healing. Yet, clients sometimes are unwilling to apologize for their wrongdoing and victims sometimes are reluctant to accept apologies. This paper will present a therapeutic jurisrudence analysis of the value of apology, and will offer suggestions about counseling clients in the apology context.
More information about the IALMH conference can be found on their web site.
