Rosenhans Experiment: On Being Sane in Insane Places - Research Paper Example

?Rosenhan’s Experiment: On Being Sane in Insane Places Rosenhan’s Experiment: On Being Sane in Insane Places For long time before Rosenhan conducted his experiment, there had been historical attempts of classifying abnormal behaviors. Notably, medical model was the most common approach in understanding and classifying abnormal behaviors. The medical model was mainly concerned with treating mental illnesses (Kleinman, 2012). The model is also known as psychiatry with psychiatrists being medical doctors among other practitioners trained to handle mental related illnesses. Since early 1950s, the medical approach had been used for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder (DSM) for classifying abnormal behaviors. Nonetheless, in the 1960s, the medical was highly criticized especially among the psychotherapists and psychiatrists. This criticism led to the anti-psychiatry movement. The movement’s concern was that the principles of the medical approach were defective in classifying and identifying persons with abnormality (Huss, 2009). David Rosenhan was among the critics of the medical model and in response he decided to conduct an experiment that will be more effective; thus, an alternative for the medical model. The main aim of the Rosenhan’s Experiment was to test hypothesis that using the medical model, psychiatrists could not reliably identify the difference sane and insane persons. Therefore, he embarked into a field experiment where he succeeded in manipulating the pseudo patients’ symptoms (Huss, 2009). Additionally, the study involved participant observation; on admission, the pseudo patients took notes on how the wards were operated and how they were treated individually. This research experiment was conducted in two parts with the first part involving 8 sane persons who were psychology graduate students in their 20s. The research also involved: One painter Three psychologists One pediatrician One housewife These participants attempted admission in twelve different hospitals. Notably, they also targeted five different states within the United States. The experiment generally involved three women and five men. The pseudo patients made phone calls to the targeted hospitals and seek for appointments and on arrival at the hospitals’ admission offices, they complained of hearing voices (Huss, 2009). They noted that these voices were unfamiliar. Moreover, they noted that the voices were unclear but they could hear things like ‘empty’, ‘hollow’, and ‘thud’. It should be noted that the Rosenhan’s Experimental research picked these voices because they were similar to “’what is it?’ and or ‘who am I?’” that are usually raised the concerns how and individual’s life may be meaningless (Kleinman, 2012). Moreover, they were chosen since as per the literature, they had no existential psychosis mentioned in them. The pseudo patients also gave fake names and jobs. This was so not to protect them from future employment and health records. However, all other details that they provided were true including their general ups and downs in life, their life history, and relationships among other details. After their admission, they all stopped simulating abnormality symptoms. However, Rosenhan noted that all the pseudo patients were nervous, may be because they feared being exposed as frauds especially in concerned with magnitude of the situation. Nonetheless, they all took part in all ward activities as well as interacting with fellow patients and staff in their ordinary ways possible. Notably; however, when the staff asked them on their health developments and how they were feeling, they noted that they were never experiencing the symptoms any more (Kleinman, 2012). Therefore, each of them was advised that they will get out of the wards on their own accord; however, they were to convince the staff individually that they were sane. Regardless of all the occurrences in their new environment, the pseudo patients spent most of their time observing and writing records of the happening in the wards including the behaviors of the staffs towards them. They at one point approached a staff with a request of informing them when they will be presented in the staff meeting or when they will be discharged among other questions (Kirk and Kutchins, 1992). From these notes, records, and observations made by the pseudo patients, Rosenhan conducted a similar study with students at Stanford University. With the two results, he could draw a conclusion and recommendations of the appropriate means and mode of understanding, identifying, and classifying insane patients. Results of the Rosenhan’s Experiment All the pseudo patients never liked the experience and they wanted immediate discharge. None of the experimental patient was detected; nonetheless, some were diagnosed with schizophrenia that led to the patient’s discharge with 'schizophrenia in remission'. This new set of patients was admitted in hospital for averagely 19 todays; however, their visitors observed ‘no dire behavioral consequence’ (Kirk and Kutchins, 1992). Despite not being detected by the staff, nearly 35 of 118 pseudo patented suspected sanity of Rosenhan’s Experiment patients. Some of who voiced such sanity concerns very seriously and at some point asked them whether they were journalists, or professors, or if they were crazy (Kleinman, 2012). Notably, the behaviors of pseudo patients are normally regarded as their supposed illnesses. For Rosenhan’s Experiment patients, for instance, the staff regarded their writing as their aspect of pathological behaviors. Rosenhan never agreed that pseudo patients could engage in writing behavior. Rosenhan knows that there is enormous overlap in the sane and insane behaviors that the staff could have detected. Therefore, in this concern, according Rosenhan, the staff had misinterpreted the behaviors of the pseudo patients (Kirk and Kutchins, 1992). Additionally, Rosenhan note that the staff also misinterpreted behavior when at one point a staff directed a group to a cafeteria half an hour before lunch break. Other responses from staff to Pseudo patients’ concerns are provided statistically in the table below: Response Percentage making contact with patient   Psychiatrists Nurses Moves on with head averted 71 88 Makes eye contact 23 10 Pauses and chats 2 4 Stops and talks 4 0.5 Rosenhan noted that his patients were treated just like other insane patients and were give nearly the same medication including 2,100 medication tablets. Therefore, lack of proper identification and classification of pseudo patients is dangerous especially to the lives of the patients. Nonetheless, the staff should also spend their time with the patients to understand their medical conditionals. The Rosenhan study revealed that psychiatrists, psychologists, and registrars among other concerned medical practitioners only spend with patients averagely seven minutes a day. Moreover, the results showed that the pseudo patients’ hospitals were poorly staffed. Despite the effectiveness and the aims of Rosenhan, he could have not deceived the hospital staff. Additionally, the entire experiment endangered the lives of the involved persons (Freudenthal, and University of California, 2007). Despite the achievements of this experiment, other experiments should be conducted involving real pseudo patients for effective, convenient, and reliable results towards an informed conclusion. References Freudenthal, E. A., & University of California, Santa Barbara. (2007). Staying out of step: Compulsiveness and detachment in contemporary fiction. Santa Barbara, Calif.: University of California, Santa Barbara. Huss, M. T. (2009). Forensic psychology: Research, practice, and applications. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub. Kirk, S. A., & Kutchins, H. (1992). The selling of DSM: The rhetoric of science in psychiatry. New York: A. de Gruyter. Kleinman, P. (2012). Psych 101: Psychology facts, basics, statistics, tests, and more!. Avon, Mass: Adams Media. Read More