Abstract
A person’s behaviour is influenced by the surrounding environment, as well as by attributes which the person brings to that environment, such as personality, abilities and attitudes; behaviour is a function of person and environment. Many people either live or work in institutions of one kind or another. For such people, the institution constitutes an important part of their environment. For some people it constitutes almost their total environment. Those who work in an institutional setting cannot fail to notice how the institution influences its members, either for good or ill. Many will have felt frustrated by the values which the institution seems to embody, or by the practices which are prevalent within it, feeling that members could be helped more if things were otherwise, or even that members are being harmed by the institution. The great importance of these matters has begun to be recognized in psychology and there is a growing psychological literature on the organization of institutions and how to change them. The study of institutions holds wider lessons for social psychology too. An institution is a social psychological laboratory.
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References
Barton, R. (1959; 3rd edn, 1976) Institutional Neurosis. Bristol: Wright.
Canter, D. and Canter, S. (eds) (1979) Designing for Therapeutic Environments: A review of research. Chichester: Wiley.
Fairweather, G.W. (ed.) (1964) Social Psychology in Treating Mental Illness. New York: Wiley.
Fairweather, G.W., Sanders, D.H., Cressler, D.L. and Maynard, H. (1969) Community Life for the Mentally Ill: An alternative to institutional care. Chicago, Ill.: Aldine.
Fairweather, G.W., Sanders, D.H. and Tornatsky, L.G. (1974) Creating Change in Mental Health Organizations. New York: Pergamon.
Goffman, E. (1961) Asylums: Essays on the social situation of mental patients and other inmates. New York: Anchor Books, Doubleday.
Janes, Maxwell (1952) Social Psychiatry: A study of therapeutic communities. London: Tavistock. (Published as The Therapeutic Community, New York: Basic Books: 1953.)
Jones, Maxwell (1976) Maturation of the Therapeutic Community: An organic approach to health and mental health. New York: Human Sciences Press.
Miller, E.J. and Gwynne, G.V. (1972) In Life Apart: A pilot study of residential institutions for the physically handicapped and the young chronic sick. London: Tavistock.
Moos, R.H. (1974) Evaluating Treatment Environments: A social ecological approach. New York: Wiley.
Rapoport, R.M. (1960) Community as Doctor: New perspectives on a therapeutic community. London: Tavistock.
Tizard, J., Sinclair, I. and Clarke, R.V.G. (eds) (1975) Varieties of Residential Experience. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Towell, D. and Harries, C. (1979) Innovations in Patient Care. London: Croom Helm.
Annotated reading
Barton, R. (1959; 3rd edn, 1976) Institutional Neurosis. Bristol: Wright. This is now a classic book, describing institutionalization as a state analogous to a disease. It is written from a medical perspective but is brief, easy to read, describes the effects of institutionalization within a hospital setting, and forcefully makes the point that the state can arise in any institutional setting.
Fairweather, G.W., Sanders, D.H., Cressler, D.L. and Maynard, H. (1969) Community Life for the Mentally Ill: An alternative to institutional care. Chicago: Aldine. The main part of this book describes the story of a group of mental hospital patients who left the hospital together and set up home in a ‘lodge’, living and working productively together. Elsewhere in the book research findings are reported. Those who enjoy reading about research findings may also wish to read Fairweather, G. W. (ed.) (1964), ‘Social Psychology in Treating Mental Illness’, New York: Wiley.
Goffman, E. (1961) Asylums: Essays on the social situation of mental patients and other inmates. New York: Anchor Books, Doubleday. Another classic volume, in which a sociologist describes the events and processes he saw in a large American mental hospital. The book is full of telling sociological insights, but it is important when reading ‘Asylums’ to have in one’s mind the knowledge that not all institutions, not even all mental hospitals, are alike and that there are important differences amongst them.
Jones, Maxwell (1952) Social Psychiatry: A study of therapeutic communities. London: Tavistock. (Published as The Therapeutic Community’, New York: Basic Books, 1953.) Again a classic book. The original description of the concept of the Therapeutic Community. Revolutionary in its time and still very well worth reading to understand the basic ideas behind the concept.
King, R.D., Raynes, N.V. and Tizard, J. (1971) Patterns of Residential Care: Sociological studies in institutions for handicapped children. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. This book is detailed and has quite a high research content. It is especially useful for the definitions and criteria for assessing institutional practices Because of this it has been an influential book upon which later research has been based.
King’s Fund (undated). Living in Hospital: The social needs of people in long-term care. London: Research Publications Limited. This is an easy to digest pamphlet designed to be read by people who work in institutions. It poses a number of very detailed questions which readers should ask themselves about the environments created in their own institutions for those who reside there.
Miller, E.J. and Gwynne, G.V. (1972) A Life Apart: A pilot study of residential institutions for the physically handicapped and the young chronic sick. London: Tavistock. This is an account of a study of several homes and hospital units for a very disadvantaged group, most of whom would never leave the institutions in which they were resident. It describes several places in considerable detail and in the course of so doing raises many of the issues with which the present chapter on institutional climates is concerned.
Otto, S. and Orford, J. (1978) Not Quite Like Home: Small hostels for alcoholics and others. Chichester: Wiley. This book is in two parts. The first reviews work on institutions and on small hostels for the mentally ill, offenders, and people with drinking problems in particular. The second part describes in detail a research study of two particular hostels for problem drinkers. It covers a great deal of important ground but is probably not so easy to read as some of the other books suggested.
Rutter, M., Maughan, B., Mortimore, P. and Ouston, J. (1979) Fifteen Thousand Hours: Secondary schools and their effects on children. London: Open Books. Here is a recent account of a detailed research project concerning the organization of a number of London secondary schools and their effect on the pupils’ achievement and behaviour. The research is detailed and painstaking and the book is probably not easy to read, but for those who find statistics heavy going it contains some valuable passages about differences in school organization.
Tizard, J., Sinclair, I. and Clarke, R.V.G. (eds) (1975) Varieties of Residential Experience. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. This book is an important collection of chapters written by different authors describing a variety of studies of residential institutions of one kind or another, mostly for children or adolescents. Particularly important are the first chapter in which the editors criticize the simplicity of Goffman’s approach in ‘Asylums’, and the chapter by Barbara Tizard in which she shows how residential nurseries can be run in very different ways.
Towell, D. and Harries, C. (1979) Innovations in Patient Care. London: Croom Helm. These authors describe how changes were brought about in the running of a mental hospital. Particularly inspiring is chapter 2 which describes how significant change was brought about in an acute psychiatric ward and on a long-stay ward.
Walter, J.A. (1978) Sent Away: A study of young offenders in care. Farnborough, Hants.: Teakfield. Walter’s book describes his detailed observations and results of interviews at one Scottish List D school (the equivalent of the English Community Home or, as it used to be called, Approved School). It is a racy, easy to read account, concentrating particularly on the overall ideology or philosophy of the school and its effect upon staff and boys.
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© 1982 The British Psychological Society
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Orford, J. (1982). Institutional climates. In: Psychology and People: A Tutorial Text. Psychology for Professional Groups. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-16909-2_23
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-16909-2_23
Publisher Name: Palgrave, London
Print ISBN: 978-0-333-33147-7
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