From findings of Rosenhan’s reports generated from the pseudopatients who were used to conduct the research, it would suffice to infer that the concept of insanity has been and is being misinterpreted in the social setting and even in the medical field. First, the misconception is premised on the fact that insanity is not universal to the extent that a diagnosis on insanity depends on one’s level of social deviance from the prevailing social regulations, which vary from place to place (Rosenhan, 1973). This leads to the conclusion that a behavior diagnosed to be insane in nature in one place would not be regarded so in another place (Rosenhan, 1973). It is on this premise that people who defy social regulations are subjected to informal sanctions, which subsequently lead to them succumbing to fatalistic and institutionalized suicide.
It is from such institutionalization and diagnosis that patients acquire labels that would be integral to them for the rest of their lives. From the experiment, such initial labeling during diagnosis and admission into the mental institutions made the pseudopatients to be presumed insane even for normal activities that they undertook (Rosenhan, 1973, p. 185). The labeling theory was clearly manifested where they were conclusively identified as ritualists as they previously could not match the level of social integration expected of them. To this extent, they were not noticeable as sane even despite manifesting the ritualistic tendencies (Rosenhan, 1973).
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From the point of labeling, it is quite inherent that the level of depersonalization at the mental institutions subjects the patients to stigma to the extent that they act in a manner that depicts results consistent with their diagnosis. This may also be attributed to the fact that they act on the perpetual label that they have been tagged. Whether or not they act sane, they are still haunted by the collective social conscience that they are insane (Rosenhan, 1973, p. 183). It is to this extent that such people are subjected to terminal durations in institutions. Here, they are subjected to inhuman treatment for most of their lives just because they could not match the behaviors of conformists in the society. As a result, the institutions become restitutive rather than rehabilitative as it is expected of them.
It is therefore clear how sane people can be subjected to labels of being insane. Such subsequent actions can be linked to their wrong diagnosis hence brewing the collective conscience among members of the society or health sector that they could be insane when they are not. It is conclusive that the methods used to diagnose insanity are flawed, therefore requiring reconsideration.
References
Rosenhan, D. L. (1973). On being sane in insane places. Science, 179(4070) , 250-258.
