On Being Sane In Insane Places Analysis

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Becky Howlett PSY 101 Chapter 13 On Being Sane After reading On Being Sane in Insane Places, write a 2-3 page reaction that includes the following: 1) Summary of Rosenhan’s article 2) Argue FOR and/or AGAINST the points made in the article 3) Discuss how are your opinions about abnormal psychology changed and/or solidified as a result of this article 4) Discuss your overall impressions of the work From this article I found it to be clear that we cannot distinguish the sane from the insane in psychiatric hospitals. The hospital environment itself poses an environment in which the meaning of behavior can be easily misunderstood. The psycho diagnostic labels given to the patients on their admission question the effectiveness of the treatments they are there to receive. How do we know what behaviors constitutes normal and what does not? This article questions the ability of specially trained professionals to make reasonable and accurate diagnosis of mental illnesses. Upon admission to the psychiatric facility, the pseudopatient ceased any signs of abnormality and despite their public show of sanity none of them were found to be fraudulent. They were given a diagnosis of schizophrenia – with this “label” the patient…show more content…
Great strides were made in the effective treatment of mental disorders. Are we going to be able to do without all psychiatric institutions, probably not, but we have learned that we need to educate the professionals who are dedicated to the treatment of these individuals. We need to continue to effectively study the environment and what effect it has on why people act and react in the ways they do. This article has opened my eyes as to how the study of psychology has changed over the years and will continue to grow to meet the needs of an ever changing
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