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http://hdl.handle.net/11375/10492
Title: | "The Negotiation of Psychiatric Reform: Sabotage in a Therapeutic Milieu" |
Authors: | Campbell, Linda J. |
Advisor: | Marshall, Victor W. |
Department: | Sociology and Anthropology |
Keywords: | Anthropology;Sociology;Anthropology |
Publication Date: | 1973 |
Abstract: | <p>The transition from one form of psychiatric treatment towards another demands reform in the social milieu presently existing in the ward. The discussion presented here is a descriptive analysis of everyday life in a psychiatric ward undergoing an officially ascribed transition from custodial to therapeutic patient care. The theoretical perspective used in approaching the analysis of the data is one broadly conceived within the framework of symbolic interactionism. The analysis is derived on the basis of modification of the process of inductive theory construction as conceptualized by Glaser and Strauss. A focus upon staffs' definitions of their participation in the ward and their interpretations of the ongoing social reality therein constitutes the basis upon which the study is formulated. The findings illustrate the highly problematic nature of the transition towards the construction of a therapeutic milieu and the variety of interpretations applied to this conceptualization of psychiatric treatment. An analysis of negotiation and bargaining among people indicates that the degree of difficulty in comping with this situation becomes so great that the transition process appears to subside in this mutual agreement of the staffs': above all else the need to demonstrate orderly social interaction is of paramount importance if some degree of social order is to be salvaged in the ward. A significant disparity still exists among people with regard to treatment orientations and the dichotomy of individual systems of meaning remains firmly polarized along a custodial, therapeutic spectrum. This convergence must therefore be understood as deriving out of people's interpretation of their vested interests on one hand, and on the other, their recognition of the need to survive in a social system highly conducive to hostility among staff. Finally I conclude that the outcome of negotiation is a working consensus among people that can be best understood within a framework of pragmatic compatibility.</p> |
URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/11375/10492 |
Identifier: | opendissertations/5535 6560 2114946 |
Appears in Collections: | Open Access Dissertations and Theses |
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fulltext.pdf | 72.06 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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