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Summary Of On Being Sane In Insane Places

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Erving Goffman's basis for his discussion and analysis is a period of time he spent in a mental hospital. “Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and other Inmates” is a compilation of 4 papers. Goffman’s interested in the relationships that develop in total institutions: inmates among themselves, inmates and staff, and staff among themselves really bring this book together. Goffman made two major points. The first point is the development of the concept of the total institution. In total institutions all aspects of life are conducted in the same place under the same authority, the individual is a member of a large group all being equally, routinely going about daily activities. There is a clear divide between supervisors …show more content…

L. Rosenhan discusses a series of experiments that he participated in involving psychiatric institutions and the effect of misdiagnoses of psychological disorders on the patients admitted to the hospitals. Rosenhan’s research shows us that the labels associated with mental illness (particularly schizophrenia) have a significant impact on the way patients are treated. In the experiment, Rosenhan and several other “pseudo patients” intentionally tried to get themselves admitted to mental hospitals in several states, feigning schizophrenia. They were easily admitted, and once inside they stopped exhibiting any abnormal behaviors. Rosenhan’s idea was that normality would be so distinct and easy to detect that surely the subjects would be released nearly immediately. To his surprise, behaviors that are traditionally considered normal were interpreted by hospital staff as being part of the pseudo patients’ pseudo condition. For instance, each participant was asked to keep a notebook or journal to record their experiences. In the real world, one may be inclined to ask one of the subjects what they were writing about if they witnessed the subject constantly scribbling away in a notebook. But in the hospitals, no nurse or staff member ever commented on the pseudo patients’ note-taking, assuming that it was a nervous habit associated with schizophrenia. In fact, several real patients in the hospital grew suspicious of the imposters, and tried to bring it to the attention of the nurses. But these claims were always overlooked, since they were coming from someone labeled as

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