Where does holding collide?

The holding of a case is the rule of law on which a court's decision actually rests, the principle that later courts are bound to follow, as distinct from remarks the judge makes in passing. Goodhart's 1930 Determining the Ratio Decidendi of a Case set out how to find that binding core from the material facts the court treated as decisive, separating it from obiter dicta, the non-binding asides. This referent is an abstract rule pulled out of a judgment and binding on future courts, not a company that owns other companies, a caregiver's protective context, or a wrestler's grip.[1]

Unit

One holding per decided case: the rule its outcome rests on

Recovery means

Not applicable

Measured by

Identified by reading a judgment for the rule its result depends on, and testing that rule against the facts the court treated as decisive

In psychoanalysis the holding environment is the reliable, protective context a caregiver provides so that an infant's emerging self can develop without being overwhelmed, and the idea extends to any relationship, clinical or not, that safely contains a person. Winnicott's 1960 The Theory of the Parent-Infant Relationship named this holding as the ground on which a healthy self is built, covering both the literal physical holding of the infant and the wider dependable care around it. This referent is a relational and emotional container for a developing person, not a binding rule of law, a corporate ownership structure, or a wrestler's restraining grip.[2]

Unit

One caregiving relationship acting as a container for a developing self

Recovery means

Not applicable

Measured by

Appraised clinically and observationally by the reliability, responsiveness, and safety of the care, not by a single number