Running head: SOCIOLOGY REFLECTION
Sociology Reflection
Roberta Power
Stenberg College
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Sociology Reflection
As our sociology course comes to a close, I realize there is still so much I am unaware of
in the world of academia. I had never taken a sociology course before so I was not sure what we
were going to learn. To my surprise, the sociology of mental health and illness has been critically
dissected of not only the illnesses themselves, but by people’s class, race, gender, age, and the
different perspectives on the role of the professional. I had not considered these startling views of
how a variety of populations are treated within psychiatry, and how much criticism and
controversy there is surrounding those views. In terms of my own nursing practice, it is
important learning to realize that many people do not feel the same way I do about mental illness
and the services available; therefore, it will be essential for me to find out how my client
perceives illness, treatments, and quality of services. For example, if my client is from a different
race, do they feel respected or coerced, stereotyped or treated as an individual, heard or
dismissed. As well, if a client is fearful, I would want to find out the reasons; is the fear based on
negative media portrayals of psychiatric treatments, misconceptions about what goes on inside a
psychiatric unit, or something else. Consequently, through this course, I am now more aware of
how clients may be viewing me and my profession and as such, will take steps to help alleviate
their fears.
Another aspect of this course which stood out for me was the consistent criticism
throughout our text of the psychiatric profession, in every respect. I found myself feeling
frustration and even anger toward the authors for, what I considered, unwarranted vilification of
psychiatrists and psychiatric treatments. I believe psychiatry is the most difficult of specialties in
that we have to try and do the most good with the least amount of information and resources.
Psychiatry to me is underrated and underappreciated. Session 7 was particularly difficult for me
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to accept, as the question of whether psychiatry “ameliorates distress or controls deviant
behavior” (Rogers & Pilgrim, 2005, p. 137) seemed absurd to me; we, in my opinion, alleviate
distress above all. The following session on the treatment of people with mental health problems
was equally disturbing for me, in that the authors questioned, among other things, the validity of
determining a client’s level of insight into their illness (Rogers & Pilgrim, 2005). Insight is
something we have learned, particularly in clinical, to be an important factor in determining the
mental status of a client and their ability to understand the need for treatment. To have a
fundamental part of our knowledge base as nurses be disputed was an uncomfortable experience.
However, a peer helped me to understand the value of viewing our profession through a critical
eye in that it helps us to be accountable to clients and families, and ultimately improves services.
In light of the history of psychiatry and psychiatric treatments which were coercive, abusive, and
degrading without a doubt, we as professionals must ensure we never go back to that place, so I
do understand better the necessity of scrutiny. I suspect my discomfort with the material in this
course was due to my new knowledge base for becoming a nurse being questioned and openly
criticized; how was I to know what to believe? It was confusing but has forced me to reevaluate
my beliefs, which is always positive.
Overall, the course challenged my thinking, challenged what I thought I knew, and most
of all expanded my perception of how my future clients may view me and my profession. I can’t
say I enjoyed the material, because of the uncomfortable feelings it evoked, but I feel the
learning was important to becoming a more compassionate and self-aware psychiatric nurse.
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References
Rogers, A., & Pilgrim, D. (2005). The mental health professions. In A sociology of mental health
and illness (3rd ed. (pp. 120-139). Berkshire, UK: Open University Press.