The professional liability of behavioral scientists: An overview

Abstract

Issues regarding the question of what constitutes malpractice by psychologists, psychiatrists, and other mental health professionals, are reviewed. The legal concepts of negligence, professional liability, and causation are explained and related subjects including the duty of mental health professionals and what constitutes a breach of that duty are discussed and illustrated. Guidelines for avoiding legal jeopardy are also presented.A record amount of malpractice litigation against physicians during the last decade has sensitized practitioners in all health-related professions to the need for an adequate understanding of the legal framework in which they function. Practitioners in the field of behavioral science, including psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, psychiatric nurses, occupational therapists and others have taken cognizance of a foreboding constellation of societal factors that may make them more vulnerable than ever before to the receipt of a summons and complaint alleging malpractice (Cohen, 1979;Cohen and Mariano, 1982;Stone, 1977; Green and Cox, 1978; Bernstein, 1978.) Thorough knowledge of a professional specialty is a necessary but no longer sufficient condition for the successful practice of that specialty; a knowledge of the law is essential. NEGLIGENCE, MALPRACTICE, AND PROFESSIONAL LIABILITYStated generally, all adults have a legal duty to conduct'themselves in a fashion that at least measures up to the way that any ordinary and reasonable person would behave under the same or similar circumstances. If a person's unintentional behavior falls short of this "ordinary and reasonable person" standard, the behavior is described as "negligent." Negligence is formally