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Tracing the Evolution of the Tarasoff Duty in California
Open accessAbstract
Since the first Tarasoff decision in 1974, the question of mental health professionals’ “duty to protect” third-parties has been a topic of vigorous debate. The ensuing forty-three years witnessed considerable shifts in the statutory and legal landscape in the United States, including several significant changes in California state law over the past decade alone. In this historical review, I trace the evolution of the Tarasoff duty with a specific focus on the state in which that duty originated, California, with the intention of elucidating the major policy, ethical, and practical questions that have followed in the wake of the Tarasoff decision.
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“A failure to warn leaves a clinician liable to civil judgment (66).”
From Key Considerations for Incorporating Conversational AI in Psychotherapy (2019) · cites this paper as [66]
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References 21 · Cited by 3
Research works printed but not linked: 5
- Buckner, F., & Firestone, M. (2000). "Where the Public Peril Begins": 25 Years after Tarasoff. Journal of Legal Medicine, 21, 187-222.
- Cohn, J. B. (1983). Harm to third parties in psychotherapy. American Journal of Forensic Psychology, 1, 15-18.
- Edwards, G. (2014). Doing their duty: An empirical analysis of the unintended effect of Tarasoff v. Regents on homicidal activity. The Journal of Law and Economics, 57, 321-348.
- Johnson, R., Persad, G., & Sisti, D. (2014). The Tarasoff rule: T he implications of interstate variation and gaps in professional train- ing. Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 42, 469-477.
- Sher, L., & Rice, T. (2015). Prevention of homicidal behavior in men with psychiatric disorders. World Journal of Biological Psychiatry, 16, 212-229.
Metadata
- Authors
- Swerdlow, B. A.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Berkeley (US)
- Corresponding author
- Swerdlow, Benjamin A
- ORCID
- Swerdlow, Benjamin A
- Venue
- The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
- Published
- 2018-01-01
- Volume
- 45
- Issue
- 2
- ISSN
- 0191-5096 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W4367331188
- Cited by
- 3
- References
- 21
- Citations by year
- 2019: 3
- FWCI
- 0.88
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare (publishedVersion)
- ScholarWorks - WMU (Western Michigan University) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Healthcare Decision-Making and Restraints
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health, Medicine and Society
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychopathy, Forensic Psychiatry, Sexual Offending
- Keywords
- Tarasoff decision, duty to protect, duty to warn, third-party protection, mental health professionals, California legislation, professional ethics, history of mental health law
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- Swerdlow, B. A. (2018). Tracing the Evolution of the Tarasoff Duty in California. The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare. https://doi.org/10.15453/0191-5096.4085
