Andrew Carroll1
1Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist, PO Box 4085 Eaglemont VIC 3084
Abstract:
In this presentation I will argue that the 'impact' of a feared 'harm' is an inherently value-laden social construct. I will further argue that the existence of the plurality of values at play is often marginalised in our public discourses around risk.
I will illustrate this by way of two very different examples: the court ruling in Minister for Home Affairs v Benbrika [2020] VSC 888; and the possible interpretations of the 'Dignity of Risk Principle' set out in section 23 of the Victorian Mental Health and Wellbeing Act (2022).
Drawing on the works of psychiatrist-philosopher Bill Fulforda and cognitive psychologist Kenneth R. Hammondb I argue that a valid discourse around feared harms is inevitably impoverished if we fail to acknowledge the central role of values. I will conclude that no ultimate solution to this challenge exists, nor should it exist, in a free society committed to values pluralism.
References:
a) KWM (Bill) Fulford, “Values-Based Practice: The Facts” in M Loughlin (ed) Debates in Values-Based Practice: Arguments For and Against (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014), 3-19.
b) KR Hammond, Human Judgment and Social Policy: Irreducible Uncertainty, Inevitable Error, Unavoidable Injustice (New York: Oxford Academic, 1996).