Trauma And Violence

Infant-caregiver interactions, seminal events in brain development and their possible relationship to later psychic vulnerability were explored in a recent continuing education seminar, "Understanding and Treating Trauma: Developmental and Neurobiological Approaches," at the University of California, Los Angeles.

In Kansas v. Hendricks, the Supreme Court upheld by a narrow 5-4 margin a Kansas law that permits the civil commitment of individuals who, due to a "mental abnormality" or "personality disorder," are likely to engage in "predatory acts of sexual violence." Justice Clarence Thomas said the Kansas statute "comports with due process requirements and neither runs afoul of double jeopardy principles nor constitutes an exercise in impermissible ex post facto lawmaking."

Although recent news portrays general violence as on the decline, the Centers for Disease Control still rank health care providers only one notch below convenience store clerks and taxi drivers at risk for homicide. Mental health personnel are exposed to these ultimate threats in emergency rooms, on home visits, walking through lonely hospital corridors or hotel corridors during conventions, as well as on the street and at home.