RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Suicide Cases in Civil Law: Do the Legal Tests Make Sense?
JF Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online
JO J Am Acad Psychiatry Law
FD American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law
SP 365
OP 372
VO 18
IS 4
A1 McClung, Mark
YR 1990
UL http://jaapl.org/content/18/4/365.abstract
AB The legal ‘tests’ for suicide liability in negligence and workmen’s compensation law have developed along parallel, but not identical, lines to the tests for criminal responsibility. Current legal precedent has shifted the focus from cognitive awareness and irresistible impulse theories to the ability of a negligent act or injury to cause an abnormal mental state. The courts, in their variable interpretation of these mental state tests, leave no clear guidelines for the psychiatric expert asked to address suicidal behavior from the standpoint of responsibility.