Conference examines mental health issues

“The Liberal State and Its Mental Health Power,” a public conference examining mental health issues in society, is set for April 25-26 at the UW Law School.

Sponsoring the interdisciplinary event are the Project for Law and the Humanities, Institute for Legal Studies, Frank J. Remington Center, University of Wisconsin Law School, Mendota Mental Health Institute and State Bar of Wisconsin, with assistance from The Evjue Foundation and Forest Pharmaceuticals.

The conference is hosted by Leonard Kaplan, Mortimer Jackson Professor of Law. Sessions will explore issues such as public control of deviant behavior; dealing with mental health challenges in schools and prisons; equity of treatment; sexual offenders; competency to stand trial; the aged and institutionalization.

Sponsors hope to attract students, faculty, attorneys, psychologists, psychiatrists, and the social services community, and any members of the community interested in attending. Panel sessions will run all day Friday, April 25 and Saturday, April 26, at Lubar Commons, room 7200, UW Law School, 975 Bascom Mall, with a final session and closing banquet on Saturday evening at the University Club, 803 State St.

Sessions are free and open to all except for the closing banquet and final panel session on Saturday evening, for which the registration deadline is April 18.

To register to attend panel sessions during the day only, please send an e-mail message with your name, contact information, and institutional affiliation to Pam Hollenhorst at pshollen@facstaff.wisc.edu. Advance registration for day sessions is appreciated but not required.

The sessions are as follows:

Friday, April 25

Public Control of Deviant Behavior;
Education;
State Correctional and Treatment Institutions;
Public and Private Provision of Benefits and Therapeutic Services;
Liberalism and Real Politik.

Saturday, April 26

Cultural Representation of Pathology and Communal Response;
From the Streets to the Courts: Criminal Process, Civil Commitment and Commitment of the Sexual Offender;
Guardianship and Competence;
Treatment and Research.