Social action theory and deviance: mental illness Flashcards
What 2 models do we look at?
The medical/psychiatric model
The labelling model of mental illness
Where is the medical/psychiatric model most dominant?
The Western World
What approach does the medical/psychiatric model take?
People who exhibit signs of bizarre behaviour are suffering from a real condition and need to be treated by a qualified medical practitioner.
According to the medical/psychiatric model, what is mental illness caused by?
- disturbing experiences
- chemical or hormonal imbalances
How can disturbing experiences be treated?
These normally occur in childhood and need to be treated by a psychoanalytic approach. This seeks to liberate patients from negative unconscious thoughts.
How can chemical or hormonal imbalances in the brain be treated?
By antidepressants
Describe the labelling model of mental illness
Labelling theory + mental illness is all about the power of doctors and psychiatrists to label some people as mentally ill, then treat them with medication, therapy or even long term residential care.
Why is this worrying for labelling theorists?
According to them mental illnesses don’t exist - it is just a convenient label to explain away strange and ‘bizarre’ behaviour.
How is the labelling model of mental illness different to the medical/psychiatric model?
The medical/psychiatric model says mental health is a real condition and has 2 causes (disturbing experiences + chemical or hormonal imbalances).
However, the labelling model of mental illness says mental illnesses don’t exist. Doctors + psychiatrists have the power to label some people as mentally ill and treat them.
Who are the 2 important writers in this area?
Thomas Szasz + Thomas Scheff
What do Thomas Szasz + Thomas Scheff argue?
Argue there is no such thing as mental illness. People go through stages in their lives when they feel unhappy, lonely and miserable but to label this as ‘clinical depression’ and then treat it as an illness is simply wrong.
What are the effects of being labelled as mentally ill?
Once a person is labelled as mentally ill, other people will treat them differently. All that they say and do will be seen as a symptom of mental illness. If they protest that they are not mentally ill, they will be seen as aggressive. If they don’t respond, they are too passive. It is difficult to convince someone that you are not mentally ill when the experts say that you are.
What famous experiment illustrates how difficult it is to diagnose mental illness?
Rosenham - “being sane in insane places”
Describe Rosenham’s experiment
Rosenham asked 8 normal researchers to admit themselves to psychiatric hospitals by pretending they heard voices. Once admitted, they behaved normally but were treated as if they were mentally ill and diagnosed as schizophrenics. Normal behaviours were seen as their signs of mental illnesses and many patients detected they weren’t genuine.
What happened in a separate experiment?
Staff at another hospital and who were aware of the Rosenham study were informed that during the next three months 1 or more pseudo patients would attempt to be admitted. Out of 193 patients, 41 were considered by staff to be imposters. The trick was that no pseudo patients were used at all, all patients suspected as imposters were genuine patients.
