Compulsory Treatments in France
The 1990 law that regulates involuntary psychiatric treatment in France will be reassessed in the near future. This law replaced the previous law, enacted in 1838, which originally sought to protect psychiatric patients. Even though the law of 1838 remained relevant into the late twentieth century, it came under criticism as it was unable to protect individual freedom as currently conceived. In this paper, we review the few assessment studies that have been carried-out in France since the promulgation of the new law. We describe the modality according to which the law is applied in everyday life, as well as in the different professional contexts. We detail the difficulties of its enforcement and its effects on the organization of French public extra-hospital psychiatry, most notably at the time of the social reintegration of the patient. The impact of the law on the stigmatization of mental patients and on their possible segregation is studied. We assemble the viewpoints of users, families, and care giver...