Hospitalization as experienced by the psychiatric patient: a therapeutic jurisprudence perspective.

The purpose of this article is to investigate the subjective experience of hospitalized psychiatric patients regarding the troublesome aspects of psychiatric hospitalization. Our discussion envisions a decision maker working under legal mandate pertaining to his discretion concerning hospitalization and aiming to promote the psychological well-being of the hospitalized individual. Therapeutic jurisprudence, as a perspective on the law in general and mental health law in particular and as an academic movement, has sought for the past 25 years to promote the psychological well-being of the individual through both substantive legal norms and legal procedures. It has also been criticized for not explicitly incorporating the perspectives of both voluntary and involuntary consumers of the mental health system. It makes sense to postulate that empowerment of these consumers will determine to a certain degree the success of therapeutic jurisprudence in fulfilling its aims.