Psychiatric Ethics

Book excerpt: Consideration of ethics has established a firm place in the affairs of psychiatrists. An increased professional commitment to accountability, together with a growing "consumer" movement has paved the way for a creative engagement with the ethical movement. Psychiatric Ethics has carved out a niche for itself as a major comprehensive text and core reference covering the many complex ethical dilemmas which face clinicians and researchers in their everyday practice. This new edition takes a fresh look at recent trends and developments at the interface between ethics and psychiatric practice.For this edition, Sydney Bloch and Paul Chodoff are joined by Stephen Green, a clinical professor in ethics and psychiatry at Georgetown University, in leading 29 of the finest scholars in the field from around the world. Eleven new contributors join the team of authors. They include Drs. Beauchamp, Gutheils, Sabin, McGuffin, Szmulter, Gabbard and Holmes. Since the second edition, the editors have observed several emerging aspects of psychiatric practice requiring coverage. As a result, six new chapters have been added covering the ethical aspects of community psychiatry, managed care, psychiatric genetics, resource allocation, codes of ethics and boundary violations. All others chapters have been fully revised and updated.The book will continue to be essential reading for psychiatrists and other mental health professionals, as well as of interest to ethicists, policy makers, managers and lawyers.