Hvad vil du bruge din indlæggelse til? En antropologisk undersøgelse af et psykiatrisk afsnit med fokus på det modsatrettede i patientinddragelse

Sammanfattning: This thesis examines patient involvement in an open psychiatric ward in Denmark. It argues that patient involvement brings forth a contradiction within psychiatric care, where patients gradually learn how to position themselves as cooperative patients. In order for patient involvement to function as a meaningful force for all implicated parties, it demands a joint ground, where psychiatric treatment is based on cooperation and involvement. This creates an explanation system, and with this, a specific patient-image. Thus, patient involvement leads to a moralized psychiatric care, as a social technology, wherein the patients are expected to act as experts. But it is not only the patients whose self-image is created from responsibility and cooperation: The psychiatric staff establish themselves as ´includers´, which points to a synergy between staff and patients. Patient involvement can be perceived as a fetishistic policy, of which the psychiatric staff has little influence. The relation between staff and patients is affected by this detachment, which creates a special kind of belonging and intimacy in the care-relation. As such, the critique the staff articulates can also be seen as a productive force, as it illuminates the crucial aspects of psychiatric care, and the inherent contradictions herein.