Classic Study: Rosenham (1973) Flashcards
What was rosenhams aim
Test reliability of mental health diagnosis to see if profetionals can tell the sane from insane.
Wanted to investigate the effect of labeling on medical diagnosis
What was the IV and DV
No iv or dv as it was an observation
What was the sample in this study
12 psychiatric hospitals in the US
5 different states
What was the procedure
8 pseudopatients went to clinical interviews and reported symptoms
- The hospitals head were informed of pseudopatients but staff didn’t know
- As soon as pseudopatients were admitted they started acting normally and asked to be discharged
How many psuedo patients were men and female
3 - female
5 - men
What were some of the words pseudopatients reported hearing
- Empty
- Hollow
- Thud
What were some things pseudopatients took record of
- how many patients voiced suspition on pseudopatients
- how staff treated them
Results: What were all the patients diagnosed with
11 hospitals diagnosed the pseudopatients with schizophrenia and the private hospital diagnosed pseudopatients with manic-depression.
Results: how long did it take for psuedopatients to be released and what was the avarage stay
7-52 days
Avarage of 19 days
Results: What was the % of patients that voiced concerns of the psuedopatients
30%
Results: What were some of the observations that psuedopatients witnessed
- Staff abusing patients
- Patients refusing medication
- Depersonalisation and powerlessness
Example of staff abusing patients
Observed other patients being verbally or physically abused by staff. Staff shouting “Come on you motherfuckers, out of bed!”
Example of patients refusing medication
Patients would often copy psuedopatients in disposing pills down the toilet
What did Rosenham conclude
That we cannot distinguish the sane from insane in psychiatric hospital.
What did he say about what the hospital environment leads to
situational factors which lead to depersonalisation and segregation, led to people being seen as insane.
EVALUATION
EVALUATION
What is a weakness of the generalisabiity of this study
Cannot be generalised to todays psychiatric diagnosis.
Why cant it be generalised into todays psychiatric diagnosis
because the results are time locked, due to the advancements of mental health since the 70s.
Give an example that shows why it can’t be generalised to todays diagnosis
In the study, DSM-II was used, in todays time the DSM-V would be used
What is a weakness of the reliability of the study
Not all pseudopatients followed Rosenhams instructions.
Give some examples of the pseudopatients not following orders
- a graduate participant asked his wife to bring in his homework, revealing his identity.
- 1 pseudopatient had a romantic relatioship with a nurse
- 9th pseudopatients results were not included because he did not follow procedure at all.
What did this mean for the results
They weren’t as optimal as they could have been
What is a strength of the external validity
Hospitals did not know they were being observed by pseudopatients. Meaning they were treated the same way. Also it was a real environment where regular patients would be in.
What is a strength of the application
It had a huge impact on health care
What are some examples of how health care improved as a result of rosenhams study
Led to a reform of the DSM system and caused psychiatric hospitals to review admission procedures and how they trained staff.
How did the DSM system change as a result
went from DSM-II to DSM-III, now defining mental illness much more carefully with clearer guidlines when diagnosing.
What were some ethical issues of the study
Contributed to a crisis in public confidence of the American mental health system.
What could this crisis result into
As a result is could lead to people who do need help not trusting the system, and therefore not seeking professional help
