pseudopatients

pseudopatients

Insane Places
Directions: Go to the internet, locate and read the following article: Rosenhan, D. (1973). On being sane in insane places. Science, 179, 250-258.

Introduction: In 1973, sociologist David Rosenhan sought to examine how difficult it would be for people to shed the “mentally ill” label. He was particularly interested in how psychiatric hospital staff process information about patients. Rosenhan and seven associates had themselves committed to different mental hospitals by complaining that they were hearing voices (a symptom commonly believed to be characteristic of schizophrenia). The staff did not know the pseudopatients were actually part of an experiment. Beyond the alleged symptoms and falsification of names and occupations, the important events of the pseudopatients’ life histories were factually presented to hospital staff as they had occurred. The pseudopatients were instructed to act completely normal upon admission into the hospital. In fact, Rosenhan told them that acting normal was the only way they could get out.

Despite the fact that they did nothing out of the ordinary, the pseudopatients remained hospitalized for an average of 19 days (range 9 to 52 days). Ironically, their sanity was not detected by hospital staff, but it was detected by the actual patients in the hospitals. All of Rosenhan’s associates retained the deviant label even after being discharged. Their schizophrenia was said to be “in remission,” implying that it was dormant and could possibly resurface.

At no time during their stay in the hospital was the legitimacy of their schizophrenic label questioned. It was simply assumed that they were schizophrenic, and everything the pseudopatients did and said while in the mental institutions was understood from this premise. Normal behaviors were overlooked entirely or were profoundly misinterpreted. Minor disagreements became deep-seated indicators of emotional instability. Boredom was interpreted as nervousness or anxiety. Even the act of writing on a notepad was seen by the staff as a sign of some deeper psychological disturbance. Furthermore, even though there was nothing “pathological” about the pseudopatients’ past histories, these records were reinterpreted to be consistent with the schizophrenic label.

Rosenhan concluded that the staff were doing their jobs as designed and made no conscious effort to misconstrue the evidence. The moral is that psychiatric labels are so powerful that they can profoundly affect the way information is processed and perceived. Had the same behaviors been observed in a different context, they no doubt would have been interpreted in an entirely different fashion.

Instructions: After reading this article, write a 2-paged paper in which you describe the following:

· Summarize how Rosenhan and his associates were assessed by the psychiatric hospital staff.

· Project how a professional in one of the hospitals might have discovered Rosenhan or one of his associates if they had used a multidimensional model.

The multidimensional model includes:

· Biological influences

· Behavioral influences

· Emotional and cognitive influences

· Social influences

· If the psychiatric hospital staff had used the multidimensional approach, what might have they focused on when assessing Rosenhan and his associates?

· Point out the dangers of one-dimensional models.

· Discuss the role ofcontextin influencing our interpretations of abnormal behavior.

Format your essay according to the following specifications:

· Minimum of 2 pages in length

· 1 inch margins

· Times New Roman 12-point font

· Double spaced

· Resources are cited

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