Academic

Kahan, Braman, Monahan, and Peters on Cultural Cognition & Outpatient Commitment

By Lawrence Solum

Dan M. Kahan , Donald Braman , John Monahan , Lisa Callahan and Ellen Peters (Yale University - Law School , George Washington University - Law School , University of Virginia - School of Law) have posted Cultural Cognition and Public Policy: The Case of Outpatient Commitment Laws on SSRN. Here is the abstract:

What explains controversy over outpatient commitment laws (OCLs), which authorize courts to order persons with mental illness to accept outpatient treatment? We hypothesized that attitudes toward OCLs reflect "cultural cognition" (DiMaggio 1997), which motivates individuals to conform their beliefs about policy-relevant facts to their cultural values. In a study involving a diverse sample of Americans (N = 1,496), we found that individuals who are hierarchical and communitarian tend to support OCLs, while those who are egalitarian and individualistic tend to oppose them. These relationships, moreover, fit the cultural cognition hypothesis: that is, rather than directly influencing OCL support, cultural values, mediated by affect, shaped individuals' perceptions of how effectively OCLs promote public health and safety. We discuss the implications for informed public deliberation over OCLs.

Full post as published by Legal Theory Blog on August 18, 2008 (boomark / email).