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Coercion in the treatment of persons suffering from mental disorders is one of the major ethical controversies in psychiatry. Despite great efforts to reduce the use of coercive interventions, they are still widespread and differ among European countries with regard to the specific type of intervention and the number of affected patients. It is common to justify measures against the present will of patients under the assumption that they promote their well-being, that is, by reference to the ethical principal of beneficence. However, it is indisputable that such measures can also cause severe harm
to the patients concerned and that they are often experienced
as degrading. So in which situations can coercive interventions justifiably be labeled as "beneficial" at all? How can they be reduced to a minimum?
This volume addresses these issues from an interdisciplinary and international perspective, combining contributions of amongst others medical ethicists, philosophers, legal scholars,
psychologists, psychiatrists from different European countries. Theoretical and conceptual essays are complemented by contributions with a strong relation to clinical practice.

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Jakov Gather, Dr. med., M.A., is a researcher at the Institute for Medical Ethics and History of Medicine, Ruhr University Bochum, and a researcher and clinician at the Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Preventive Medicine, LWL University Hospital, Ruhr University Bochum. Tanja Henking, Prof. Dr. iur., LL.M., is Professor for Medical Law and Criminal Law at the University of Applied Sciences in Würzburg. Alexa Nossek, geb. 1981, Studium der Philosophie und Alten Geschichte, 2010 Abschluss als Magistra Artium an der Universität Duisburg-Essen. Derzeit Promotionsstudium im Fach Philosophie an der Universität Münster über das Autonomie-Modell von Harry G. Frankfurt als assoziiertes Projekt der Kolleg-Forschergruppe Theoretische Grundfragen der Normenbegründung in Medizinethik und Biopolitik. Forschungsschwerpunkte: Philosophie des Geistes, Ethik und Angewandte Ethik Jochen Vollmann, Prof. Dr. med. Dr. phil., is a psychiatrist, Professor of Medical Ethics and Director of the Institute for Medical Ethics and History of Medicine, Ruhr University Bochum.

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