Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The role of coercion in the treatment of women with co-occurring disorders and histories of abuse

  • Special Issue
  • Published:
The Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Debate continues on issues of involuntary treatment for individuals with behavioral healthcare problems. Women with co-occurring disorders and histories of abuse are an especially vulnerable population. This study seeks to increase our knowledge about the experiences of coercion for women in the behavioral healthcare system. Patterns of coercion are explored. This study did not find the predicted relationship between high levels of interpersonal violence and frequent involuntary treatment experiences. The results do offer support for the hypothesis that women are more likely to be currently mandated to treatment if they have been recently arrested, and that being mandated to treatment does not appear to be related to clinical issues such as recidivism and acute symptoms. As expected, women currently required to be in treatment report having less choice in other aspects of their care. Implications for future research in the current climate of increasingly coercive policies are presented.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Applebaum P. Law and psychiatry: dangerous persons, moral panic, and the uses of psychiatry.Psychiatric Services. 2003;54(4):441.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Bennett N, Lidz C, Monahan J, et al. Inclusion, motivation, and the good faith: the morality of coercion in mental hospital admission.Behavioral Sciences and the Law. 1993;11:295–306.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Diamond R. Coercion and tenacious treatment in the community. In Dennis DL, Monahan J, eds.A New Frontier in Mental Health Law. New York: Plenum Press; 1996;51–72.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Heffern W, Austin W. Compulsory community treatment: ethical considerations.Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing. 1999;6:37–42.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Lidz C, Hoge S, Gardner W, et al. Perceived coercion in mental hospital admission.Archives of General Psychiatry. 1995;1052:1034–1039.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Morrissey J, Monahan J, eds.Research in Community and Mental Health: Coercion in Mental Health Services—International Perspectives. Vol 10. Stamford, Conn: JAI Press; 1999.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Scheid T. Coercion in mental health services: international perspectives.Mental Health Services Research. 2001;3(2):115–118.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Kaltiala-Heino R. Methodological issues in measuring coercion in psychiatric treatment. In: Morrissey J, Monahan J, eds.Research in Community and Mental Health: Coercion in Mental Health Services—International Perspectives. Stamford, Conn: JAI Press; 1999:123–140.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Miller N, Flaherty J. Effectiveness of coerced addiction treatment (alternative consequences): a review of the clinical research.Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment. 2000;18(1):9–16.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Wild T, Newton-Taylor B, Alleto R. Perceived coercion among clients entering substance abuse treatment: structural and psychological determinants.Addictive Behaviors. 1998;23:81–95.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Monahan J, Lidz C, Hoge S, et al. Coercion in the provision of mental health services: the MacArthur studies. In: Morrissey J, Monahan J, eds.Research in Community and Mental Health: Coercion in Mental Health Services—International Perspectives. Stamford, Conn: JAI Press; 1999:13–30.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Monahan J, Bonnie R, Appelbaum P, et al. Mandated community treatment: beyond outpatient commitment.Psychiatric Services. 2001;52(9):198–205.

    Google Scholar 

  13. Steadman H, Dennis D, Gounis K, et al. Assessing the operation of a New York City Program for involuntary outpatient commitment.Research in Community and Mental Health. 1999;10:31–56.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Nicholson R. The effects of coerced psychiatric hospitalization and treatment. In: Morrissey J, Monahan J, eds.Research in Community and Mental Health: Coercion in Mental Health Services-International Perspectives. Stamford, Conn: JAI Press; 1999:141–174.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Hannigan B. Challenging contemporary mental health policy: time to assuage the coercion?Journal of Advanced Nursing. 2002;37:477–484.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Kaltiala-Heino R, Tuohimaki C, Korkeila J, et al. Reasons for using seclusion and restraint in psychiatric inpatient care.International Journal of Law and Psychiatry. 2003;26:139–149.

    Google Scholar 

  17. Taxis J. Ethics and praxis: alternative strategies to physical restraint and seclusion in a psychiatric setting.Issues in Mental Health Nursing. 2002;23:157–170.

    Google Scholar 

  18. Petti T. Seclusion and restraint: a paradigm shift for the millennium.American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. 2002;33:40–43.

    Google Scholar 

  19. Busch A, Shore M. Seclusion and restraint: a review of recent literature.Harvard Review of Psychiatry. 2000;8:261–270.

    Google Scholar 

  20. Soloff P, Turner S. Patterns of seclusion: a prospective study.Journal of Nervous and Mental Diseases. 1981;169:37–44.

    Google Scholar 

  21. Marlowe D, Kirby K, Bonieskie L, et al. Assessment of coercive and non-coercive pressures to enter drug abuse treatment.Drug and Alcohol Dependence. 1996;42:77–84.

    Google Scholar 

  22. Polcin D, Weisner C. Factors associated with coercion in entering treatment for alcohol problems.Drug and Alcohol Dependence. 1999;54:63–68.

    Google Scholar 

  23. Pescosololido B, Gardner C, Lubell K. How people get into mental health services: stories of choice, coercion, and “muddling through” from first-timers.Social Science & Medicine. 1998;46:275–286.

    Google Scholar 

  24. Hiday V. Coercion in civil commitment: process, preferences, and outcomes.International Journal of Law and Psychiatry. 1992;15:359–378.

    Google Scholar 

  25. Miller L. Comprehensive care of pregnant mentally ill women.Journal of Mental Health Administration. 1992;19:170–177.

    Google Scholar 

  26. Martin S. Assessing women and their medications.Monitor on Psychology. 2001;32(11):46–47.

    Google Scholar 

  27. Padgett D. Women's mental health: some directions for research.American Journal of Orthopsychiatry. 1997;67(4):522–534.

    Google Scholar 

  28. Pigott T. Gender differences in the epidemiology and treatment of anxiety disorders.Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. 1999;60(suppl 18):4–15.

    Google Scholar 

  29. Seeman M. Gender differences in schizophrenia across the life span. In: Cohen C, ed.Schizophrenia Into Later Life: Treatment, Research, and Policy. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Publishing Inc; 2003:141–154.

    Google Scholar 

  30. Kingree J. Understanding gender differences in psychosocial functioning and treatment retention.American Journal of Drug & Alcohol Abuse. 1995;21(2):267–281.

    Google Scholar 

  31. Westermeyer J, Boedicker A. Course, severity and treatment of substance abuse among women versus men.American Journal of Drug & Alcohol Abuse. 2000;26(4):523–535.

    Google Scholar 

  32. Minkoff K. Best practices: developing standards of care for individuals with co-occurring psychiatric and substance use disorders.Psychiatric Services. 2001;52:597–599.

    Google Scholar 

  33. Davidson J. Pharmacotherapy of posttraumatic stress disorder: treatment options, long-term follow-up, and predictors of outcome.Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. 2000;61(suppl 5):52–56.

    Google Scholar 

  34. Davidson J, Rothbaum B, van der Kolk B, et al. Multicenter, double-blind comparison of sertraline and placebo in the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder.Archives of General Psychiatry. 2001;58(5):485–492.

    Google Scholar 

  35. van der Kolk B. The psychobiology and psychopharmacology of PTSD.Human Psychopharmacology: Clinical & Experimental. 2001;16:S49-S64.

    Google Scholar 

  36. Brady K, Grice D, Dustan L, et al. Gender differences in substance use disorders.American Journal of Psychiatry. 1993;150(11):1707–1711.

    Google Scholar 

  37. Brunette M, Drake R. Gender differences in patients with schizophrenia and substance abuse.Comprehensive Psychiatry. 1998;38:109–116.

    Google Scholar 

  38. Dhossche D, Meloukheia A, Chakravorty S. The association of suicide attempts and comorbid depression and substance abuse in psychiatric consultation patients.General Hospital Psychiatry. 2000;22(4):281–288.

    Google Scholar 

  39. McFarlane A. Posttraumatic stress disorder: a model of the longitudinal course and the role of risk factors.Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. 2000;61(suppl 5):15–20.

    Google Scholar 

  40. Seedat S, Stein D. Trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder in women: a review.International Clinical Psychopharmacology. 2000;15(suppl 3):s25-s33.

    Google Scholar 

  41. Gallop R, McCay E, Guha M, et al. The experience of hospitalization and restraint of women who have a history of childhood sexual abuse.Health Care for Women International. 1999;20(4):401–416.

    Google Scholar 

  42. Stefan S. Issues relating to women and ethnic minorities in mental health treatment and law. In: Sales B, Shurman D, eds.Law, Mental Health and Mental Disorder. Pacific Grove, Calif: Brooks/Cole; 1996:240–278.

    Google Scholar 

  43. Stefan S. Impact of the law on women with diagnoses of borderline personality disorder related to childhood sexual abuse. In: Levin B, Blanch A, Jennings A, eds.Women's Mental Health Services: A Public Health Perspective. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Sage; 1998:240–278.

    Google Scholar 

  44. Wolfe J, Kimerling R. Gender issues in the assessment of posttraumatic stress disorder. In: Wilson JP, Keane TM, eds.Assessing Psychological Trauma and PTSD. New York: Guilford; 1997:192–238.

    Google Scholar 

  45. Foa EB.Posttraumatic Stress Diagnostic Scale Manual. Minneapolis, MN: National Computer Systems Inc; 1995.

    Google Scholar 

  46. Derogatis L.Brief Symptom Inventory: Administration, Scoring, and Procedures Manual. 4th ed. Minneapolis MN: NCS Pearson Inc; 1993.

    Google Scholar 

  47. McLellan AT, Kushner H, Metzger D, et al. The fifth edition of the addiction severity index.Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment. 1992;9:199–213.

    Google Scholar 

  48. Cusack K, Frueh C, Hiers T, Suffoletta-Maierle S, Bennett S. Trauma within the psychiatric setting: a preliminary empirical report.Administration and Policy in Mental Health. 2003;30(5):453–460.

    Google Scholar 

  49. Connors R.Self Injury: Psychotherapy With People Who Engage in Self-inflicted Violence. Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson; 2000.

    Google Scholar 

  50. Doob D. Female sexual abuse survivors as patients: avoiding retraumatization.Archives of Psychiatric Nursing. 1992;6:245–251.

    Google Scholar 

  51. Briere J.Child Abuse Trauma: Theory and Treatment of the Lasting Effects. Newbury Park, Calif: Sage; 1992.

    Google Scholar 

  52. Jennings A. On being invisible in the mental health system.The Journal of Mental Health Administration. 1994;21(4):374–387.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of South Florida, 13301 Bruce B. Downs Blvd, 33612, Tampa, FL

    Colleen Clark PhD (research assistant professor), Colleen Clark PhD (research assistant professor), Marion Becker PhD (professor) & Julienne Giard MSW (assistant in research)

  2. Cutting Edge Newsletter, Carrollton, Ohio.

    Ruta Mazelis BS

  3. the Hunter College, New York

    Andrea Savage PhD (associate professor)

  4. Policy Research Associates, Inc, Delmar, NY.

    Wendy M. Vogel MPA (research associate)

Authors
  1. Colleen Clark PhD
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Colleen Clark PhD
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Marion Becker PhD
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Julienne Giard MSW
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Ruta Mazelis BS
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Andrea Savage PhD
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Wendy M. Vogel MPA
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Colleen Clark PhD.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Clark, C., Clark, C., Becker, M. et al. The role of coercion in the treatment of women with co-occurring disorders and histories of abuse. The Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research 32, 167–181 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02287265

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02287265

Keywords

Search

Navigation