Course Offerings

BETH 315/415: Mental Health Ethics-Comparing the European and American Experience - The Netherlands Summer 2012; Dates TBD

VondelparkInternational Bioethics Education Program

This 3-credit course will focus on the ethical issues involved in mental health care, especially since the deinstitutionalization of our mental health system in the 1970s, and will contrast the management of these issues in the US and European systems.  After reviewing the history of psychiatric care in the US and Europe, issues such as the diagnosis of mental illness, illness and responsibility, and mental patients’ rights to refuse or receive treatment will be explored.  Teaching will include guided field experiences in clinics and hospitals and a museum of psychiatry, and regular discussion sessions with the course faculty. Students will be expected to become familiar with the literature on concepts in mental health ethics and policies relevant to course topics in both countries. This course is relevant for students of psychology, social work, law, medicine, and ethics. The course is open to undergraduate and graduate students.






More Course Offerings