Psychiatric Treatment Settings Research Articles

The A-B variable and preferred inpatient treatment environment

Examined the possibility that college students' status on Whitehorn and Betz' (1954) A-B dimension would be related to their descriptions of the ideal psychiatric inpatient treatment setting. Sixty-one Ss completed the A-B scale, as well as Moos' (1974) Ward Atmosphere Scale-Ideal Form. Analysis demonstrated a statistically significant relationship between A-B status and 5 of the 10 WAS subscales. A and B Ss both differed significantly from a middle group of Ss, but did not differ from one another, in their ward ratings on these subscales. Factor analysis of the Ideal Form ratings replicated Alden's (1977) finding from analysis of Standard Form responses of a high degree of communality between 8 of the 10 WAS subscales.

Cultural problems in psychiatric therapy: nine years later.

This article presents the clinical experiences of a unique intercultural psychiatric treatment setting in Los Angeles, California. Information regarding treatment modality and outcome is reviewed.

Changing the Social Milieus of Psychiatric Treatment Settings

The article presents a concrete paradigm which may be useful in the facilitation and evaluation of social change, particularly in relatively small groups with moderate to high amounts of interaction among their members. The methodology includes (1) the systematic assessment of the social environment, (2) individualized feedback to participating members, (3) concrete planning of specific methods by which change might occur, and (4) reassessment of the social environment in order to monitor the results of the change process. Preliminary applications of the method have been made on psychiatric wards, small correctional units or cottages for young juvenile offenders, university residence halls, and high school classrooms. Examples of the use of the methodology in studies of a psychiatric ward and an adolescent residential center are presented.

Levels of Patient Interaction on Psychiatric Wards: Some Relevant Variables

Six properties of the psychiatric treatment setting have been examined for their effect on the amount of patient interaction. The evidence indicates that patient interaction is greater to the extent that (1) the need for patient interaction is stressed; (2) patients and staff are rewarded for interacting with patients; (3) the patient population is not disproportionately selected from among the aged, the very severely disturbed, or individuals just admitted; (4) nonpatients mingle with patients; and (5) differences in rank and authority between staff members and patients are minimized. Implications of these findings are discussed with relation to (1) the "disease entity" conception of mental illness and (2) Goffman's hypothesis that a deep staff-inmate schism exists in the mental hospital which is an example of a "total institution."

Presenting Symptomatology of Adopted Children

TWO MAJOR questions to be answered about adopted (extrafamilial or nonrelative adoption) children are:(1) do they come to the attention of psychiatric treatment settings out of proportion to their presence in the general child population?(2)do the clinical symptoms differ between emotionally disturbed adopted and nonadopted children? Concerning the first question, there is some agreement that a higher clinic arrivalrate does exist for adopted children than might be expected for the general child population. 1 This higher rate is not, however, of the magnitude suggested by Schechter's study. 2 When such variables as race, social class, prior contact with agencies, and base rates of adoption in the community from which the sample is drawn are taken into account, these increased rates drop from 100:1 as reported in Schechter's study to somewhere between 4:1 to 51/2:1 and 1.4:1 as reported to the studies of Simon

Further developments in the day hospital.

The day hospital is one of a series of experiments in devising new psychiatric treatment settings. It has been a useful and productive development. The models created in different centres differ widely in their general applicability, their clinical usefulness, and their theoretical interest. The first day hospital was set up at the Allan Memorial Institute in 1946, and in 1958 was reorganized to provide services in combinations matched to the individual patients and readily varied as necessary. Coincidentally a re-examination of its social structure led to an activity program which produced marked changes. These changes not only remedied current difficulties operating the day hospital but also greatly extended its range of usefulness.

The use of reserpine in an acute psychiatric treatment setting.

Increasing attention is being given to the utilization of reserpine in the management and treatment of psychiatric disorders. This most potent single alkaloid derivative of the Indian plant Rauwolfia serpentina has been reported to be of value in the therapeutic approach to acute and chronic schizophrenia, depressed states, anxiety symptoms, agitation, obsessive thinking, disturbed behavior patterns associated with mental deficiency, toxic states, and chronic organic brain syndromes.* The description of such applicability in this heterogeneous group of disorders merits repeated observation and study before conclusions concerning the efficacy of reserpine can be made. In this brief communication, experiences with the use of the drug under the conditions of an acute psychiatric treatment center will be described. THE PATIENT POPULATION In the acute psychiatric treatment setting patients are hospitalized because of relatively acute psychiatric disorders, or acute exacerbations of more chronic psychiatric illnesses. The majority of such cases are of acute