You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
Humanizing the Psychiatric Hospital leaves little doubt about the message Dr. Gralnick wishes to convey. High Point, the hospital which is his topic, serves as a therapeutic instrument which promotes the capacity of the patient to experience more of himself as well as his living relationship to everyone surrounding him. Gralnick makes a clear point out of society's dehumanizing properties. To him, it is essential to treat the patient where he did not get sick, and away from the traumatizing influences of the outside world. Elaborating on these different points are his major incentives for writing. The book is written in two parts, starting with a promising, descriptive clinical discourse, and ending with sociological and demographic research mindful of the writings of Goffman, Etzione, and others.
The effective therapeutic approach depends on the dynamic, humane, and empathetic input of the individuals making up the therapeutic team. More precise and explicit definitions and discussion of what “humanizing” means, however, would have aided the reader in evaluating Dr. Gralnick's thesis that the institution, as a whole, with its staff, serve as a unit with a therapeutic purpose. One of the author's goals is to coordinate hospital administration with “the Therapeutic instrument.” In his future writings, the author will, no doubt, eliminate many hypothetical assumptions through further research and documentation. In emphasizing patient responsibility, his major focus is on the material sacrifices expected of patients. He gives the highest priority to the multifaceted cost of hospital maintenance as the patient's responsibility. Although responsibility can be defined differently, Gralnick deserves to be commended for stressing the mutuality inherent in therapeutic responsibility. Gralnick's point of view is that society is dehumanizing. This generalization is debatable.
The importance of understanding the changing patient in greater depth cannot be underestimated. The impo