Foucault Psychiatric Power Analysis

Before the eighteenth century, mental illness was thought to be a problem spiritually. Whenever people started acting weird ,they were thought to be wracked with sin or even possessed by demons (“The Asylum Movement”, 1997). One woman, Dorothea Dix, became a reformer for mentally ill patients. Dix was not alone, however. In addition, a woman named Nellie Bly, a journalist, also helped show the inhumane treatments of the mentally ill.

After reading this case I was terribly shocked about the fact that something like this could happen in our medical history. I couldn’t believe how a patient could be neglected so much. Based on the material that we have learned the lack of ethical theory of deontology in Dr. Evan was disturbing. As a doctor Dr. Evan’s role is to care for patients, keep them away from harm and prolong their life. Though in the trial he stated as if he didn’t care.

Her strict rules, though a reflection of the broken institution’s methods, serve to maintain order in the most efficient way possible as she believes “its best to stick to our daily routine” (Kesey 92). She acts in an extreme fashion for two reasons, because she must follow the policy of the institution and because she works with patients who possess mental illnesses and have an unpredictable nature. She continues to justify her means of order by saying, “Please understand: We do not impose certain rules and restrictions on you without a great deal of thought about their therapeutic value,” later elaborating that “it is entirely for your own good that we enforce discipline and order” (Kesey 155). She uses her care for her patients as the main justification of her methods of treatment, showing that she puts their improvement above all other concerns. By wishing the ultimate best for her patients, She shows that she does not wish to harm them or degrade them directly like an antagonist would.

The theme that manipulation is only a powerful tool if the victim is weak enough to not resist it is revealed through the conflict between Nurse Ratched and the patients in the mental institution. The reader can first imply that manipulation

In 1920, Major General Jennings wrote to the Secretary of Bombay that the “daily average sick was 580 as compared with 614 in the previous years. ”8 In addition, he reported that “the chief causes of deaths at the several Mental Hospitals were Tuberculosis 17, Diarrhea 14, Anemia 9, Diseases of the Heart 13, Dysentery 10, and Pneumonia 11.”8 These records reveal important information about the conditions of mental asylums. First, Major General Jennings word choice implies that the term lunatic asylums has been changed to “Mental Hospitals. ”8

In, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, mental and physical manipulation is portrayed in a variety of ways. These manipulations cause victims severe disadvantages that can not be cured. Ken Kesey chose to use these examples to enlighten the reader that everything is not always what it seems. Kesey caused the reader to analyze every situation and character; causing them to better understand the circumstances. The victims of mental and physical manipulation live with serve consequences, as shown in Ken Kesey’s One Flew

In the book “One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest” Ken Kesey shows that the “insanity” of the patients is really just normal insecurities and their label as insane by society is immoral. This appears in the book concerning Billy Bibbits problem with his mom, Harding's problems with his wife, and that the patients are in the ward

In the drama film, One Flew Over the Cuckoo 's Nest, Patrick McMurphy was moved from a prison farm to a mental institution to get evaluated for his erratic behavior. Upon being transported to the institution, all his assumptions about his new home were completely wrong. The head nurse, Nurse Ratched, has the whole hospital under her control with little to no freedom for the patients. All the inmates at the institution go through rigorous training to become obedient to Nurse Ratched and her strict schedule and rules. The institution was a very controlled environment with the patients having no control over their own life’s while there.

In the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey two of the main characters, Dr. Spivey and Nurse Ratched, have different opinions on the Therapeutic Community of the mental asylum where they work. The Therapeutic Community at the hospital, named the Combine by its patients, is supposed to make the ward a democratic place that puts its patients concerns and requests into consideration. Dr. Spivey uses the Therapeutic Community as a way to make the patients feel like they have more of a say in the way the asylum is run and wants them to feel comfortable. However, Nurse Ratched uses this free environment as a way to show her authority and force confessions out of her patients. Dr. Spivey wants the mental institute patients to benefit from a Therapeutic

Published in 1962, Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest tells the story of Patrick McMurphy, a newly-admitted patient at a psychiatric hospital where individuals with various mental conditions are treated. Run primarily by Nurse Ratched, a demeaning autocrat who exhibits complete control over others, the patients are subjected to various forms of treatments and therapy with the intent of rehabilitation (Kesey 5). Most forms of treatment depicted in Kesey’s novel, such as group therapy, are an accurate representation of what typical psychiatric patients may encounter while under care at a mental facility. Yet others, particularly electroshock therapy and lobotomies, were quite controversial at the time of the novel’s publication. Such treatments were questioned for their effectiveness at improving patients’ condition – and while these procedures were still occasionally performed at the time, they often did not benefit the treated individual.

Occupational Therapy began to emerge in the 1700s, during the “Age of Enlightment”. It was during this period that revolutionary ideas were evolving regarding the “infirmed” and mentally ill. At that time in history, the mentally ill were treated like prisoners; locked up and considered to be a danger to society. It wasn’t until two gentlemen; Phillipe Pinel and William Tuke started to challenge society’s belief about the mentally ill, that a new understanding, philosophy, and treatment would emerge. Phillipe Pinel began what was then called “Moral Treatment and Occupation”, as an approach to treating mental illness, in 1973.

Due to the structure in place by Nurse Ratched’s orders, all patients must participate in therapeutic meetings, where they have a group discussion with the nurse and Dr. Spivey. These discussions specifically target one patient where the others proceed to humiliate them. When Bromden narrates a meeting of this nature, Harding, another patient, is the one under harsh criticism, “The group is still tearing into Harding when when two o’clock rolls around” (Kesey 53). In the ward, the nurse has created an environment where the patients do not feel safe. She pits them against each other using methods such as the therapeutic meetings, which cause the patients to feel as though they cannot trust one another.

The physician is rendering the aid the patient requests and respecting the patient’s autonomous decision to exercise their right to

Even of the patients are mentally disable and some cant express clearly, they still manage to form a strong social bond with the regular people. During the 1970’s President Kennedy passed a health reform act in which psychiatry was reevaluated, and insane asylums were shutting down. The given number 160,000 was lowest at the time as more asylums designed to isolate patients were converting to a therapeutic haling centers

The movie “One flew over the cuckoo’s nest” gives an inside look into the life of a patient living in a mental institution; helping to give a new definition of mental illnesses. From a medical standpoint, determinants of mental illness are considered to be internal; physically and in the mind, while they are seen as external; in the environment or the person’s social situation, from a sociological perspective (Stockton, 2014). Additionally, the movie also explores the idea of power relations that exist between an authorized person (Nurse Ratched) and a patient and further looks into the punishment a deviant actor receives (ie. McMurphy contesting Nurse Ratched). One of the sociological themes that I have observed is conformity.