In the wake of a negligent release law suit

Abstract

Several staff members at a state psychiatric hospital were found negligent in a jury trial for having released a psychiatric patient who subsequently killed a member of the plaintiff's family. This study explored the impact of the law suit on the hospital staff members as individuals and on the functioning of the institution. Self-report measures revealed that both named defendants and nondefendant staff experienced symptoms of emotional disturbance associated with the litigation. Self-report measures suggest that the law suit was not instructive in any meaningful way regarding improved procedures for subsequent release decision making. Archival data indicate that the staff did release significantly fewer patients during the trial and follow-up period than prior to the litigation. Results are discussed in the context of Wexler's concept of therapeutic jurisprudence.