Psychiatrists have written much about the explosive expansion of scientific knowledge of the brain which developed over the late 20th century and the early 21st century. Comparatively little has been written within the field of psychiatry about the changes in society and world culture over this same period, and even less on the scope of psychiatric ethics that would account for these changes. Yet psychiatric ethics is an excellent framework in which to examine social changes in the field over the past 25 years, changes which are dramatic in nature and profound in impact.
Some of these social changes include multiculturalism and its associated diversity of values; the transition to the digital era with its new demands on confidentiality, clinical boundaries, and privacy; the empowerment of psychiatric service users as full participants and co-producers of care; the development of new technologies of assessment and treatment, varying in their invasiveness and risk; the recognition of expanded social roles for psychiatrists, and the associated virtues of psychiatric citizenship; and the development of new practice models, settings, participants, and oversight, all of which represent profound challenges and opportunities for the ethical practice of psychiatry.
The Oxford Handbook of Psychiatric Ethics is the most comprehensive treatment of the field in history. The volume is organized into ten sections which survey the scope of the text: (1) Introduction, (2) People Come First, (3) Specific Populations, (4) Philosophy and Psychiatric Ethics, (5) Religious Contexts of Psychiatric Ethics, (6) Social Contexts of Psychiatric Ethics, (7) Ethics in Psychiatric Citizenship and the Law, (8) Ethics of Psychiatric Research, (9) Ethics and Values in Psychiatric Assessment and Diagnosis, (10) Ethics and Values in Psychiatric Treatment.
Written and edited by an international team of experts, this landmark book provides a powerful and important review of psychiatric ethics in the 21st Century.
John Z. Sadler, The Daniel W. Foster, M.D. Professor of Medical Ethics, UT Southwestern, USA, Werdie (C.W.) Van Staden, Professor of Philosophy and Psychiatry, Division of Philosophy and Ethics of Mental Health, University of Pretoria, South Africa, K.W.M. (Bill) Fulford, St Catherine's College, Oxford, UK
John Z. Sadler, M.D. is currently a Professor of Psychiatry and Clinical Sciences and the Daniel W. Foster, M.D. Professor of Medical Ethics at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. Dr. Sadler directs the Division of Ethics in the Department of Psychiatry and the Program in Ethics in Science and Medicine institution-wide. During his career at UT Southwestern, Dr. Sadler has provided clinical ethics consultation for 25 years and research ethics consultation for eight years. He is a co-editor of The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy and Psychiatry (2013), co-editor, with K.W.M Fulford, of the journal Philosophy, Psychiatry, & Psychology (Johns Hopkins University Press), coauthor with Jennifer Radden of The Virtuous Psychiatrist (OUP, 2010) and author of Values and Psychiatric Diagnosis (OUP 2005).
Werdie (C.W.) van Staden is Nelson Mandela Professor of Philosophy and Psychiatry at the University of Pretoria, South Africa, with a clinical psychiatry attachment at Weskoppies Hospital. He serves as editor-in-chief of the South African Journal of Psychiatry; and editor for Philosophy Psychiatry & Psychology; Philosophy, Ethics and Humanities in Medicine; and the International Journal of Person Centered Medicine. He is chairperson of the Faculty of Health Sciences Research Ethics Committee (IRB). He founded and directs postgraduate programmes in Philosophy & Ethics of Mental Health, chairs the committee for residency training in psychiatry, provides clinical training in general adult psychiatry for medical students and psychiatrists, and directs the health ethics training in the School of Medicine.
KWM (Bill) Fulford is a Fellow of St Catherine's College and Member of the Philosophy Faculty, University of Oxford; and Emeritus Professor of Philosophy and Mental Health, University of Warwick Medical School. His previous posts include Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist, University of Oxford, and Special Adviser for Values-Based Practice in the Department of Health, UK. Bill has led on a number of key academic and administrative developments in the philosophy of psychiatry and has published widely in this field, including Moral Theory and Medical Practice, co-author of The Oxford Textbook of Philosophy and Psychiatry, and Lead editor of The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy and Psychiatry. He is Lead Editor for the Oxford book series International Perspectives in Philosophy and Psychiatry and Founder Editor with John Sadler of the international journal Philosophy, Psychiatry, & Psychology (PPP).
