Can paternalism be justified in mental health care?

Abstract

Whilst current mental health care provision has made a substantial move towards empowering its users it retains a paternalistic approach with legislation such as 'supervised discharge'. This apparent paradox creates potential dilemmas for the mental health nurse and suggests there is a need for critical analysis of the justification for paternalism within mental health care. This paper discusses the conflict between the ethical principles of autonomy and beneficence which paternalism invokes. On reviewing the …