“Here, We Do Not Render Justice, We Render Service:” Meta-Ethnography of Practices of Involuntary Psychiatric Admission across Jurisdictions

Despite severe social, legal, and economic consequences for persons subjected to forced psychiatric admission, the rates of involuntary admission have been rising across the Global North for decades. Yet, rigorous criteria have been adopted in all jurisdictions to ensure that involuntary admission is only used when less restrictive/coercive psychiatric interventions have failed. Employing a lens of metaethnography, we bring in conversation results and analytical insights from two qualitative research projects conducted in Quebec, Canada and Poland, two civil law jurisdictions, to unpack the socio-legal organization of involuntary admission practices, with a specific focus on legal rights and their implementation in that context. We argue that by accepting therapeutic goals behind forced admissions, legal professionals not only relegate concerns about the procedural and civil rights of persons considered for admission to the margins of their practice but also usher this practice in a problematic conceptualization of a person considered for admission as a legal party.