Chapter 3: On Being Sane in Insane Places
In the early 1970’s a psychologist named David Rosenhan conducted an experiment to challenge other medical professionals on the accuracy of their diagnoses, pertaining to psychiatric disorders. Him and eight other friends faked their way into asylums set around the United States to see what would happen if they started displaying “sane” behavior once inside. This experiment caused much aggravation among psychiatric experts who felt that Rosenhan was trying to make a mockery of the science. It also helped improve the psychiatric evaluation process by creating more detailed criteria that must be met by each patient in order to make an accurate diagnosis. I chose this chapter because I find it interesting to have a psychologist, so dedicated to his work that he would put himself and the science he has studied for many years at risk in order to improve both. He did all this work so people could see that there was room for improvement in the way we diagnose and treat people seeking psychiatric help.
This chapter made me think about how far the field of psychiatry has come in the aspect of patient care. In the first experiment conducted in the 1970’s, patients were diagnosed and treated way harsher than modern times. After uttering …show more content…
This topic sparked became an interest for the two psychologists after a bizarre crime took place in New York City, where a woman was brutally raped and stabbed. There were a plethora of witnesses, though none did anything to aide the woman in any way. The witnesses lack of action sent Darley and Latane looking for answers so they conducted experiments at NYU to see why people do not intervene when given the opportunity. One experiment showed that only 31% of people would respond to the individual if they thought there were others around and 85% of people would respond if they thought they were
In the early 1970’s a psychologist named David Rosenhan conducted an experiment to challenge other medical professionals on the accuracy of their diagnoses, pertaining to psychiatric disorders. Him and eight other friends faked their way into asylums set around the United States to see what would happen if they started displaying “sane” behavior once inside. This experiment caused much aggravation among psychiatric experts who felt that Rosenhan was trying to make a mockery of the science. It also helped improve the psychiatric evaluation process by creating more detailed criteria that must be met by each patient in order to make an accurate diagnosis. I chose this chapter because I find it interesting to have a psychologist, so dedicated to his work that he would put himself and the science he has studied for many years at risk in order to improve both. He did all this work so people could see that there was room for improvement in the way we diagnose and treat people seeking psychiatric help.
This chapter made me think about how far the field of psychiatry has come in the aspect of patient care. In the first experiment conducted in the 1970’s, patients were diagnosed and treated way harsher than modern times. After uttering …show more content…
This topic sparked became an interest for the two psychologists after a bizarre crime took place in New York City, where a woman was brutally raped and stabbed. There were a plethora of witnesses, though none did anything to aide the woman in any way. The witnesses lack of action sent Darley and Latane looking for answers so they conducted experiments at NYU to see why people do not intervene when given the opportunity. One experiment showed that only 31% of people would respond to the individual if they thought there were others around and 85% of people would respond if they thought they were