ABSTRACT
Each individual who enters the Unit must work out some way of behaving that will satisfy two distinct sets of social role prescriptions. The first is a set peculiar to the Unit (according to which the blueprint for the role system is implied in the treatment ideology). The second is a set deriving from the customs, ethical codes, and statutes of the larger society (according to which the blueprint for the role system is implied in professional canons and in the provisions of the National Health Act). In this chapter we shall indicate some of the cardinal features of each of these sets of role directives, and describe some of the characteristics of the Unit’s role system as it takes form under the influence of these diverse forces. We shall then indicate some patterns of role performance that have actually emerged as characteristic of particular roles as their incumbents have sought ways of reconciling dilemmas implied in combining the two sets of role prescriptions. Since the treatment instruments of social psychiatry are to be found in the actual rather than the ideal patterns of role performance, it is important to understand the factors that forge the actual social structure and to trace the therapeutic implications from this point rather than from the ideal structure.
