Rational Suicide, Irrational Laws: Examining Current Approaches to Suicide in Policy and Law

581 Pages·2016·6.362 MB·English

by  Susan Stefan

Rational Suicide, Irrational Laws
American Psychology- Law Society Series
Series Editor The Psychology of Judicial
Patricia A. Zapf Decision- Making
Edited by David Klein and
Editorial Board
Gregory Mitchell
Gail S. Goodman
Thomas Grisso The Miranda Ruling: Its Past, Present,
Craig Haney and Future
Kirk Heilbrun Lawrence S. Wrightsman and
John Monahan Mary L. Pitman
Marlene Moretti
Juveniles at Risk: A Plea for
Edward P. Mulvey
Preventive Justice
J. Don Read
Christopher Slobogin and
N. Dickon Reppucci
Mark R. Fondacaro
Ronald Roesch
The Ethics of Total Confinement
Gary L. Wells
Bruce A. Arrigo, Heather Y. Bersot,
Lawrence S. Wrightsman
and Brian G. Sellers
Books in the Series
International Human Rights and
Trial Consulting Mental Disability Law
Amy J. Posey and Michael L. Perlin
Lawrence S. Wrightsman
Applying Social Science to Reduce
Death by Design Violent Offending
Craig Haney Edited by Joel Dvoskin, Jennifer
Psychological Injuries L. Skeem, Raymond W. Novaco,
William J. Koch, Kevin S. Douglas, and Kevin S. Douglas
Tonia L. Nicholls, and
Children Who Resist Postseparation
Melanie L. O’Neill
Parental Contact
Emergency Department Treatment Barbara Jo Fidler, Nicholas Bala,
of the Psychiatric Patient and Michael A. Saini
Susan Stefan
Trauma, Stress, and Wellbeing in
The Psychology of the Supreme Court the Legal System
Lawrence S. Wrightsman Edited by Monica K. Miller and
Proving the Unprovable Brian H. Bornstein
Christopher Slobogin Psychology, Law, and the Wellbeing
Adolescents, Media, and the Law of Children
Roger J.R. Levesque Edited by Monica K. Miller, Jared
C. Chamberlain, and Twila Wingrove
Oral Arguments Before
the Supreme Court Murder in the Courtroom: The
Lawrence S. Wrightsman Cognitive Neuroscience
God in the Courtroom of Violence
Brian H. Bornstein and Brigitte Vallabhajosula
Monica K. Miller Rational Suicide, Irrational
Expert Testimony on the Psychology Laws: Examining Current Approaches
of Eyewitness Identification to Suicide in Policy and Law
Edited by Brian L. Cutler Susan Stefan
Rational Suicide, Irrational Laws
Examining Current Approaches to Suicide
in Policy and Law
Susan Stefan
1
1
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Estragon: I can’t go on like this.
Vladimir: That’s what you think.
—Samuel Becket (Waiting for Godot, 1954)
Excerpts from WAITING FOR GODOT, copyright ©1954 by Grove Press Inc.,
Copyright © renewed 1982 by Samuel Beckett. Used by permission of Grove/ Atlantic
Inc. Any third- party use of this material, outside of this publication, is prohibited.
Concurrent permission provided by Faber and Faber Limited.

To my mother, Gabrielle Stefan (June 13, 1917– August 20, 2006):
I told you that I could not live without you, and I was right.
For more than three thousand days now, I have been unable to live
without you.
To my husband Wes, my best friend Jamie, and my sister Didi:
In the darkness, you have always been the lights along the shore.
And to all the people reading this who cannot go on living, and do,
Especially to the people kind enough to share their stories with me:
I hope that this book does you the justice you deserve. I am glad you are
still here.

Contents
Series Foreword  xi
Acknowledgments  xiii
Introduction  xv
1. “Sane” and “Insane” Suicide: The Law of Competence  1
2. The Right to Die, Involuntary Commitment, and the Constitution  52
3. Assisted Suicide in the States  124
4. International Perspectives in Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia  179
5. Assisted Suicide and the Medical Profession  221
6. Mental Health Professionals and Suicide  270
7. Types of Suicide  319
8. Discrimination on the Basis of Suicidality  372
9. Prevention and Treatment: Policy and Legal Barriers  412
ix