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I don't know. Honestly it seems unethical to me to compel someone to do anything if they haven't done anything illegal, and being homeless / not showering / hav
by grahamburger 10y ago
I don't know. Honestly it seems unethical to me to compel someone to do anything if they haven't done anything illegal, and being homeless / not showering / having sores isn't illegal. There's a fine line between 'helping the mentally ill through compulsory treatment' and 'rounding up the homeless so we don't have to see them all the time' and it seems like whenever we try to do the former we end up doing some of the latter as well.
In my Aunt's case, apparently they decided not to press charges about the fire. Maybe they thought they were doing her a favor, and insurance probably covered the damage anyway.
- lobster_johnson 10y agoAs you point out, she doesn't know she is ill; you (and we as a society) have the clarity to recognize it and help. I have dealt with a similar situation involving a family member. I later regretted not being proactive in intervening before it was too late. Years went by, and plenty of situations arose that could have lead to a serious intervention. Instead, nothing happened. In one instance, criminal charges were pending, but somehow they were dropped. Of course, there must be a very high bar against forced institutionalization; we don't want to return to the bad old days when people were locked up for all sorts of unjustifiable reasons.
- vkou 10y agoIn certain countries, society had the clarity to recognize that people who did not believe in the superiority of communism were mentally ill.
- wyager 10y agoYou are describing a way for the government to punish people without due process. "Oh that guy, he's a loon, let's lock him up." > we don't want to return to the bad old days when people were locked up for all sorts of unjustifiable reasons. What makes you think this would no longer be the case?