ROSENHAN Flashcards
AO1
The aim was to see if 8 sane people who gained admission to 12 different hospitals would be found out as sane. A further aim was to find out what the experience of being in such an institution was like and what it feels like to be viewed as insane. 8 sane people, 3 women and 5 men, (3 of the pps (including Rosenhan) were psychologists) attempted to gain admission to 12 different hospitals in 5 different states in the USA. Pp’s arrived at the admissions after making an appointment over the phone, complaining they’d been hearing voices. They said the voice was unfamiliar and the same sex as themselves, which was often unclear, but saying the words, ‘empty’ ‘hollow’ and ‘thud’. These words were chosen as they stimulated an existential crisis. Each pseudo patient was told they would have to get out by themselves by convincing the staff they were sane. The results were the pseudo patients were never detected, and the staff had no doubts about the authenticity of the patients. They remained in the hospital for 7 to 52 days, average 19 days, and were eventually discharged with SZ in remission.
Ecological validity
The study was carried out in 12 real and varied actual mental health hospitals across 5 US states, using real staff who were unaware of the study, therefore it has ecological validity as it was in the real setting of mental health hospitals. Furthermore, the staff were unaware that they were pseudo patients and therefore behaviour witnessed is seen to have high validity as they were acting how they normally would towards a genuinely insane patient so the results were very insightful to what the treatment is really like in such places.
However - unethical
However, the fact that the staff were deceived is unethical. They were deceived about the symptoms of the patients and were also unaware of being part of a study so they were unable to give consent. Therefore, the correct ethical guidelines were not followed and people were taken advantage of without their knowing. Although, Rosenhan did not name any of the staff or hospitals so there was no risk of identification and the hospitals were not called out for the way they treated their patients.
Ethical attention
Another ethical issue was that the study could have affected the amount of attention given to those who were genuinely mentally ill - therefore taking away resources from those who truly needed them and causing potential strain or harm to others as a result. However the estimated contact with hospital staff the pp’s had on average was 7 minutes a day, so it is unlikely it made any difference to the attention given to the genuinely ill people in hospital.
Simple design
The design was simple; the pseudo patients just had to be themselves, it is unlikely that any treatment towards them was due to their behaviour being similar to someone with a mental illness. The fact that real patients realised that the pseudo patients were not mentally ill suggests that their behaviour was validly normal and therefore the study is valid with strong findings as it suggests that regardless of being sane, once labelled insane, the staff would not question the pp’s sanity.
However SZ
However, the pseudo patients said they heard voices, a standard symptom of sz, so it is not surprising that the pp’s were thought to have the disorder. The lies seem to have guided the results, and therefore means that the study may have lacked validity. However, it doesn’t explain why the pp’s were not subsequently found out as sane.
Furthermore admission to hospital
Furthermore, the pseudo patients insisted on being admitted to hospital, which is an important symptom in itself, nor did they admit to being normal and insist on being released as normal people would. Therefore, the validity of the results may have been affected by the pp’s not requesting release, as the staff in the institution may have been right to assume that they weren’t sane as they were worried for the safety of the patient.
Application to society
The idea that people being perceived through the use of labels was clear, the studies findings were strong and hd application to society, as it showed that further regulations and inspections were needed to be put in place in hospitals and that the issue of neglect needed to be dealt with. Therefore the study gave valid and intimate insight into what it’s truly like in mental health hospitals and clearly showed that things must change in the way patients are treated.
However 40 years ago
However, this study was carried out 40 years ago, and it can be argued times have changed since then, for example the DSM being revised so diagnosis is more valid. Conditions in mental health hospitals are different, as the training the staff receive is different, and so patients are treated more humanely. Therefore, the results are unlikely to be similar now, so the findings aren’t applicable or valid in the current times.
In conclusion
In conclusion the study gave very insightful information on the treatment of patients within mental hospitals, with valid behaviour from staff due to being unaware of the study. However the study had ethical issues as the staff were deceived and didn’t give consent to being part of the study.
