SOCIAL STRUCTURE AND PSYCHIATRIC TREATMENT

• Published in: American journal of orthopsychiatry Vol. 24; no. 2; pp. 307 - 316
• Main Authors: Robinson, H. A., Redlich, F. C., Myers, J. K.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Orthopsychiatric Association, Inc 01-04-1954; American Orthopsychiatric Association; Educational Publishing Foundation
• Subjects: Counseling; Human; Humans; Medical Psychology; Mental Disorders; Mental Disorders - therapy; Old Medline; Psychiatric Patients; Psychotherapy; Social Class; Treatment Planning; MENTAL DISORDERS/therapy
• ISSN: 0002-9432; 1939-0025
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1939-0025.1954.tb02020.x

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that the social status position of a psychiatric patient within the community is itself a highly significant and independent determinant of the kind of treatment he will receive. Significant relationships have been found between type of psychiatric disorder and social class. For this reason, and because diagnosis is ordinarily thought of as a critical therapeutic determinant, it would appear most desirable to analyze these data in terms of particular diagnostic classifications. This paper treats of five major diagnostic groups, together including 88 per cent of all cases studied. It was found that in this population of psychiatric patients, four major diagnostic groups, including 77.9 per cent of all the cases studied, show a relationship between social class and principal form of treatment which is significant at the one per cent level of confidence. Social status position is also related to type of treatment in the remainder of the cases, but at a somewhat lower statistical index. This study has shown that when a complete population of treated psychiatric patients is stratified on a social scale, characteristic treatment differences are found among the social classes. In a word, it is found that treatment does not depend on psychological and medical determinants alone, but on the status position of the patient as well. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)