Vulnerability: Ethical Aspects of Legal Intervention in the Care and Treatment of Vulnerable Groups

The book will examine the development of the law surrounding the care and treatment of vulnerable groups in its social and political context. It will further provide a critical analysis of some of the central themes concerning these groups from a contextual perspective. The objective of this book is to focus on the issue of capacity, the legal, ethical and philosophical aspects of it and the impact capacity has in practice on five vulnerable groups: children, the mentally incapacitated, the mentally disordered, pregnant women and the elderly. The book will not merely examine the development of the law but will provide a critical overview of the legal and ethical issues posed by these vulnerable groups. Vulnerability is a human condition that affects the ability to make decisions and the opportunity to have one's views taken into account. The rights to personal freedom and autonomy are lost once mental capacity is found to be absent. These choices are replaced by paternalistic action. Vulnerability is something that will affect us all at some stage during our lives. As children, our rights are severely limited and, throughout life, different events and experiences may lead to a reduction in our mental capacity. With the population becoming increasingly aged, the question of capacity and the steps that are needed to protect the rights of the vulnerable is progressively more important.