Rosenhan - Being Sane in Insane Places

Rosenhan was unhappy with the methods used for diagnosing and categorising mental patients.  He felt that the 'labels' which wrere applied to patients were difficult to discard and tended to colour the judgement of the mental health professionals who worked with the patients.

 

Rosenhan decided to find out what would happen if normal people, with no history or real symptomos of mental illness, feigned symptoms to be admitted into a mental hospital.  These 'pseudopatients' then observed how they were treated during their time in the hospital. This is known as participant observation.

 

 The findings reveal some interesting insights regarding the treatment of mental patients.