PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Joseph H. Obegi
TI  - Disciplinary Responsibility in Prison
AID  - 10.29158/JAAPL.200103-20
DP  - 2021 May 17
TA  - Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online
PG  - JAAPL.200103-20
4099  - http://jaapl.org/content/early/2021/05/17/JAAPL.200103-20.short
4100  - http://jaapl.org/content/early/2021/05/17/JAAPL.200103-20.full
AB  - Correctional mental health clinicians are sometimes asked to assess disciplinary responsibility, that is, to ascertain whether an inmate is culpable for violating prison rules. This assessment of disciplinary responsibility is akin to insanity determinations in criminal proceedings. In this article, I review the moral, legal, and practical aspects of disciplinary responsibility. I use California’s test of responsibility for prison misconduct, which is similar to the Durham rule, to illustrate some of the dilemmas involved in creating and implementing a test of disciplinary responsibility.