PSYC 3140 Lecture Notes - Paul E. Meehl, Abnormal Psychology, Inter-Rater Reliability
Document Summary
Transinstitutionalization (hospital -> jail: efforts to protect the rights of the mentally ill can unfortunately result at times in individuals being incarcerated in jails instead of getting the help they need in psychiatric institutions. Case vignette: teenage girl admitted to hospital for a 30-day forensic (psycho-legal) psychiatric assessment. Symptoms she displayed: impulsive, running away from home, skipping classes she was living in a foster home and struck her foster mother with a lamp. Court wanted to assess to what extend is she making her choices willingly. No. they dropped their symptoms as soon as they got in, released as schizophrenia in remission: dehumanizing, no contact. 6 minutes a day of contact, no visits. Psychiatric houses are storehouses for people you do not want, do not care for, and have lost sympathy for : attendants need to understand that the people there are not just collection of symptoms.
