Legal approaches to civil commitment in the United States and the United Kingdom are compared. A concise overview of the historical evolution of civil commitment in both countries precedes a discussion of the present scheme of commitment standards in each system. These current standards in U.S. and U.K. jurisdictions are then applied to a hypothetical case of delusional disorder. A discussion of the constructive use of civil commitment in patients with delusional disorder who may be dangerous focuses on its value as a preventive measure against potential harm to self or others, as well as the pros and cons of coercive assessment and treatment. Despite the many differences in approach to commitment, the authors concur that in both countries the patient with delusional disorder was committable before the commission of a serious criminal offense.

Overcoming Intolerance in South Africa: Experiments in Democratic Persuasion is a report on a large-scale study that combines survey, panel, experimental, and quasi-experimental techniques in an attempt to assess the prospects for democracy in South Africa. The book-which also includes a background chapter dealing with the pertinent aspects of South Africa's recent history-is appropriately dedicated to Nelson Mandela as well as to "all South Africans who have died as a result of political intolerance."The first wave of the survey (N = 2,557, net of a 92% response rate) was conducted in 1996, about 2 years after South Africa's first democratic election. The second wave (53% response rate-relatively good retention for such a panel survey) was conducted in late 1997. In addition to the primary sample supplementary samples were used for within-group analyses of data for some racial, ethnic, or language groups whose representation in the primary sample amounted to fewer than 250 participants.The experimental study was built into the survey design and involved presenting matched subgroups of the sample with systematically varied versions of a vignette dealing with the issue of political tolerance and with standardized questions on this issue.In line with previous studies-including studies by the authors-the results of the survey show that the level of intolerance in South Africa is high, though not as high as in some other countries (e.g., Russia [p. 57]); that it is not limited to the political fringes; and that it is not simply racial. The authors state that-in contrast, for instance, to the American and British systems-"One of the dangers of South African intolerance is that many of the central competitors for political power are unwilling to tolerate one another" (p. 71), and they correctly characterize this as one of their most important and disconcerting findings.

No abstract

There is a strong need for the provision of professional psychological services within the criminal and civil justice systems. Psychologists who possess high levels of skill in diagnosis, consultation, social action research, organizational analysis, crisis intervention, treatment, and theory construction are vitally needed in all components of the legal system (Gottfredson, 1972;Twain, McGee, &Bennett, 1972). Forensic psychology involves distinct skills, background knowledge, and forms of practice, which in some ways are quite different from traditional functions of clinical, personality, and social psychology.Forensic psychology is the application of psychological principles to the problems and administration of the legal-judicial system-both its criminal justice and civil justice components. Indeed, reformation and improvement of the civil justice system (e.g., the family court) will result in fewer criminal offenses and a smaller work load for the overburdened criminal justice system. In addition to needing well-rounded practitioners and researchers, forensic psychology needs a cadre of faculty to teach specialized skills in forensic psychology in academic and criminal justice institutions throughout the country. For example, increasing numbers of forensic psychologists are becoming police department psychologists and consultants. Innovative programs in this area have been quite effective (Bard, 1969(Bard, , 1970 Barocas, 1971;.The role of the psychologist in the criminal justice system is crucial. At present, psychologists are typically involved in the following aspects of the criminal justice system: (a) pretrial phase-psychodiagnostic test results are used as evidence in pretrial competency hearings; (b) trial phase-the