Psychological perspectives on euthanasia and the terminally III: An Australian psychological society discussion paper

Exploring the Beliefs Underlying Attitudes to Active Voluntary Euthanasia in a Sample of Australian Medical Practitioners and Nurses: A Qualitative Analysis

“…This study, however, does not quantify which beliefs were the most important to participants, rather it identifies the range of beliefs that participants hold about AVE, and generalization of these findings to a larger population should be treated cautiously. Finally, the attitudes elicited in this study are hypothetical for two of the behaviors as AVE is currently illegal in Australia and, as a consequence, these attitudes may change if AVE were legalized and if beliefs were elicited from medical practitioners or nurses responsible for administering AVE to a patient (Sanson et al, 1998).…”

“…Active voluntary euthanasia (AVE), defined in this context as the act of taking life to relieve suffering at the request of the patient, achieved by active steps (usually the administration of a drug) (Martin, 2003;Sanson et al, 1998), is not currently legal in Australia. Nevertheless, the issue has contemporary social relevance, with the passing of the Northern Territory of Australia's 1995 Rights of the Terminally Ill Act, which was subsequently overturned in 1997.…”

Euthanasia and palliative psychology in end-of-life care

“…Like other professionals, psychologists have discussed euthanasia, indicating a number of ways in which the discipline might contribute to, and clarify, the debate (Allen, 1998;Gething, 1998;Sanson et al, 1998;Thomas, 1998). However, only a small number of psychologists have direct experience of working in the end-of-life (EOL) field and in particular palliative care, and this is sometimes reflected in what may be misconceptions of palliative care in otherwise excellent commentaries.…”

“…cal voice as a deterrent for any liberalisation of the law related to assisted death. Those marginalised by language may have been left with scant understanding of the complexity of the debate (Sanson et al, 1998). Psychology, of course, has a long history of interest in the effects of power imbalances and countercontrol (Milgram, 1974;Skinner, 1974;Zimbardo & Leippe, 1991) and may thereby have a role in helping understand how certain groups may feel threatened by the potential of legislative change.…”

“…In considering such opposition, it is useful to examine more closely the context in which euthanasia is most commonly considered, that of terminal care, and in particular to examine whether notions of palliative care in the terminal phase and euthanasia are necessarily opposed, or may be compatible. Sanson et al (1998) stated that consideration of euthanasia in EOL decision-making includes taking into consideration "the adequacy of total care provided to the patient, with special reference to palliative care bur [italics added] including physical, medical, psychiatric, and psychological care" (p. 2). The suggestion here that palliative care is somehow separate from physical, medical, psychiatric, and psychological care needs to be addressed.…”