Am J Psychiatry 1989; 146:170-175
Copyright © 1989 by American Psychiatric Association
An empirical comparison of the stone and dangerousness criteria for civil commitment
SK Hoge, PS Appelbaum and A Greer
University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Department of Psychiatry, Worcester 01605.
Massachusetts civil commitment criteria were compared in an emergency
setting with a set of criteria developed by Dr. Alan Stone. Contrary to
expectations, the Stone criteria proved to be more restrictive in a sample
of 503 patients. Few patients would be newly committable under the Stone
criteria; of the 35 patients committable under the Stone standard, 32 also
met the current Massachusetts criteria for commitment. The clinical and
policy implications of the adoption of the Stone criteria are discussed.
