Aspects of the Sociology of Psychiatry

Authors

Hans S. Falck, Virginia Commonwealth University

Abstract

There can be little doubt that for the social scientist interested in the case of psychiatry there is much to learn. Not only is psychiatry a specialty in medicine, with a variety of subspecialities, is also enjoys links to other professions such as clinical psychology, psychiatric nursing and psychiatric social work. While in some sense this provides psychiatry the opportunity to be the renaissance man in medicine -- a situation which might elicit envy from others less universal and catholic -- it also causes it great difficulties and troubles. Nooone seems to know where psychiatry begins and ends; it suffers sizable difficulties in setting its own boundaries, delineate areas of knowledge and skill where it and it alone reigns supreme, and because its boundaries appear vague, at least to outsiders, it is vulnerable to attack and to raids by not always benign neighbors.

Recommended Citation

Falck, Hans S. (1980) "Aspects of the Sociology of Psychiatry," The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare: Vol. 7: Iss. 2, Article 7.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15453/0191-5096.1407
Available at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jssw/vol7/iss2/7