The Organization of Treatment on a Short-term Psychiatric Ward

Abstract

While the medical origin of psychiatric treatment has led to a tendency for discussions of treatment to dwell mainly on what is wrong with the psyche of patients, the treatment process of a residential facility consists of interaction between patients and a variety of staff members. It is a social process, and to understand fully what is going on, one might ask not only who is doing and saying what to whom, but who expects what, and how do each of the participants interpret what is going on. In observing the treatment process in a short-term psychiatric ward of a community mental health center, I saw the interaction of at least two different concepts and styles of treatment--the traditional medical model, and another model based on mobilizing social support. I found that my sociological perspective was useful in looking at the organization of the ward, at the two models of treatment--their interaction, their support of each other, and their occasional conflict, and at the nature of the patient role and the treatment process.