THE MANAGEMENT OF "MADNESS"

As a society, we have been divided about how we define, treat and manage serious mental disorders. The goal of this seminar is to review how we, in the United States, have attempted to help those with mental disorders. We will do this by looking back to colonial America when families and local communities were the primary caregivers and by working our way up to today's world of managed care. Some of the questions that we will explore include: How did we define "madness" in the early years of our country? How and why did those definitions change? What happened to the "mental" hospitals? Who are the professionals involved in the management of "madness" and how have their roles changed over time? How is "madness" currently managed? What are the social policy implications? We will read most of Gerald Grob's book, The Mad Among Us, as well as selected chapters from Robyn Dawes' House of Cards: Psychology and Psychotherapy Built on Myth and David Mechanic's Mental Health and Social Policy. These materials will focus our discussion and class exercises. In addition, during each session we will discuss images from another book, Madness in America, that will aid our understanding. An E-mail user group will be set up for interested students to discuss the material with us and each other between seminar meetings. Finally, we will establish a website that will provide additional readings, information, links, etc.

Lucy Canter Kihlstrom received her PhD in Health Services Research and Policy from the University of Minnesota and completed post doctoral training at Yale School of Medicine. Prior to entering a doctoral program, she earned an MSW and an MBA from the University of Wisconsin, Madison and, since 1978, held professional positions in various health care and mental health care programs and facilities. She currently is an Assistant Research Scientist in the Institute of Personality and Social Research, UC, Berkeley and is the author of several articles and chapters that focus on aspects of the current system of mental health care.

John F. Kihlstrom received his PhD in Personality and Experimental Psychopathology from the University of Pennsylvania, and completed a clinical psychology internship at Temple University. He is Professor in the Department of Psychology. Before coming to UCB, where he is affiliated primarily with the cognitive psychology program, he held positions at Harvard University (Personality & Developmental Studies), the University of Wisconsin (Social Psychology & Personality), the University of Arizona (Cognitive Psychology & Cognitive Science), and Yale University (Cognitive Psychology).

Grading: Letter grade

Evaluation Method: During the semester, each student will be required to submit one question to the instructors for discussion on 3 separate class topics. The questions should be thoughtful and relate directly to material that the student has read for that class period. For example, the question should not just be definitional in nature but should go beyond the assignment to indicate that the student has read and thought about the material. Finally, the student should be prepared to participate actively in class discussion when s/he submits a question.