Mental Health, Ethics and Law

Entry requirements

Minimum requirements:

• 2:1 undergraduate degree (or equivalent international qualification) in a relevant discipline, e.g. law, medicine, philosophy, psychology, theology, social science, one of the life sciences, or nursing studies, or
• a registerable qualification appropriate to the programme in medicine (or international equivalent); or
• a professional mental health qualification.

Alternative qualifications:

• evidence of achievement of an academic level comparable to at least 2:1 (upper second class honours) standard (or international equivalent) through past studies and where previous study, work or experience has made the applicant a suitable candidate, will also be considered.

Months of entry

September

Course content

This integrated MSc is for anyone concerned with mental health who wishes to study the clinical, ethical and legal thinking behind current law, policy and clinical practice. It has been designed for health professionals, lawyers, policy makers, and all those with a relevant first degree who are keen to consider the difficult questions raised by mental ill health and society’s response. Students will be able to study alongside others from a wide range of academic and professional disciplines at the heart of London’s legal and psychiatric world.

The interface between the law and the mental health disciplines raises fundamental questions concerning our very human nature. Concepts such as autonomy, responsibility, decision making capacity and risk are central and have come under increasing scrutiny in the literature. While each discipline approaches the debate from its own perspective and understanding of the world, increasingly connections have been made and relationships recognised. At a theoretical level this has led to a growing and vibrant literature. At the level of practice the close interaction between law and psychiatry, which had been evident across the centuries, has become increasingly significant and sensitive. In the context of evolving societal attitudes to mental ill health and disability and the expanding influence of international human rights norms the role of the law is becoming both more complex and more contentious.

Building on the experience gained from working across our disciplinary boundaries we have developed a strongly interdisciplinary programme, designed to investigate the interface between mental health, law and ethics at a theoretical level and to engage directly with the dilemmas and experience of illness encountered in practice.

The course will expand students’ understanding, both within and beyond their own disciplines, and will provide them with the skills necessary to analyse and critique current law, practice and policy in relation to mental health.

Fees and funding

Students are expected to be self-funded or funded by their employer, but please refer to our Graduate School funding pages for further information on general funding options.