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MA/PhD Theses Abstracts of Current Students & Alumni |
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Sopkin, Deborah D., June 1980 - NETWORK ANALYSIS: A CULTURAL APPROACH TO MENTAL HEALTH CARE
Abstract This thesis is concerned with the investigation of certain client oriented aspects of the Psychiatric Emergency and Admissions Service, as elicited by a network support model. The bulk of the data is taken from the original agency report entitled An Evaluation of the Psychiatric Emergency and Admissions Service of Hillsborough Community Mental Health Center. Although this thesis does not adhere to a systems analysis approach, findings reveal patterns of patient flow, utilization and other demographic information for a sample of 304 patients. Of primary importance to this research is the collection, recording, standardization and analysis of egocentric network variables. This evaluation supported two hypotheses which were concerned with the strength of an individual's support system and that strength's correlation with frequency of psychiatric hospitalization. Hypothesis One (a strong support system contains properties of functionality, multiplexity, density and actualization) was upheld, as was Hypothesis Two (patients who possess strong support systems require fewer hospitalizations than patients who possess weaker support systems). A background to issues involved in emergency psychiatric services is presented in Chapter Two. The role of culture in the formation, resolution and change of aberrant behavior is presented in light of methodologies utilized by other cultures. The methodology section describes the logistics and techniques utilized for the statistical analysis performed, while a brief description of network variables is presented in Chapter Four. Results appear in Chapter Five and are separated by sub-headings according to sample size. As a part of the original agency report, the Conclusions chapter and the Recommendations chapter address program specific issues, and therefore indicate more direct applications for the Agency itself. In Chapter Seven, "Anthropological Significance," the phenomenon of mental illness is discussed as a fundamental culture disorder. This thesis suggests that medical anthropologists consider the proposal that some diseases originate in an individual's culture, and that if this be so, an altered focus from the group to the individual might be in order. An analysis with this focus which utilizes a support network paradigm, presents the anthropologist with the ability to engage in research that will permit systematic comparison of the roles of kin and friend groups as they impinge upon an individual in varying dimensions within a crisis situation. The process of network analysis as applied in this thesis elicited symptomatology and provided accurate indications of recurring crisis episodes.
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