Premium
Surviving psychiatric insritutionalisation: a case study
Author(s) -
Prior Pauline M.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
sociology of health and illness
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.146
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1467-9566
pISSN - 0141-9889
DOI - 10.1111/1467-9566.ep10932141
Subject(s) - institutionalisation , institution , total institution , construct (python library) , identity (music) , sociology , power (physics) , psychology , social constructionism , social psychology , position (finance) , mental health , psychiatry , social science , business , physics , quantum mechanics , computer science , programming language , finance , acoustics
This paper looks at the impact of psychiatric hospital treatment on the life of a man who spent almost forty years in a large mental hospital in Northern Ireland. Patient behaviour and staff experience of this behaviour are examined within the conceptual framework proposed by Erving Goffman. This man's story once again challenges the notion of the all‐pervading power of the institution, and affirms the ability of some individuals to maintain a strong personal identity in spite of being officially labelled as deviants and separated from society because of this label. It also challenges the assumption that institutional living in itself, stigmatises and therefore isolates an individual from normal social networks. It is argued that in order to predict the impact of voluntary or compulsory institutionalisation, not only must the identity‐construct of the individual be considered, but also the social position of the institution within the community.