Forced hospitalization of people with mental disorders has long been a
critical issue in the mental health services. Coercion and Aggressive
Community Treatment is the first sustained description and analysis of
what happens when `aggressive' treatment becomes `coerced' treatment.
Mental health professionals poignantly discuss the tension they feel
between wanting to do everything to treat desperately ill people and the
need to respect the rights of these same people who want to make their
own decisions, even if this means forgoing treatment.