Radical Psychiatry – the Dark side of the Family
Joel and Adam
KEY IDEAS:
 The family is an emotionally repressive institution
 Mental illness canbe cuased by family life
 The family has a “dark side” e.g. domestic violence
KEY FIGURES:
R.D. Laing
David Foucault
Jan Pahl
CRITICAL APPRAOCHES TO OPPRESSIVE NATURE OF
THE FAMILY:
Marxist feminist – capitalist values are reflected in family
structures, which provide the means for the oppressed male
worker to relieve his tensions by oppressing (hitting) his wife
and children
Radical Feminism – Patriarchy is a feature of relations
between husband and wives and between fathers and children.
The family is a key instrument in maintaining male power
Radical Psychiatry – The family is riddled with tensions
anxieties and conflicts. It is an ideological conditioning device
that crushes and absorbs the individual’s identity
Foucault – The norms of behaviour required by the state have
become internalised by families and households. The power
and authority to enforce their norms are wielded by state
agencies and individual freedom is curtailed.
In the 1960s Laing and Cooper developed a more sociological
approach, which came to be known as anti- psychiatry.
They focused on one particular type of illness schizophrenia,
which is associated with dual identities. They pointed out that
schizophrenia was not a precise medical term with prescribed
list of symptoms, and was in fact used to cover a range of
behaviour disorders.
In their book “Sanity, Madness and the Family”. They featured
several case studies of families in which someone had been
diagnosed with schizophrenia. The person was commonly an
only child, and in most cases a girl. Laing was interested in why
this type of family setting should provide such significant
proportion of cases. He deduced that in fact it was the
complex pattern of the family dynamics, which were riddle with
anxieties, tensions and conflicts that made the daughter
schizophrenic.
The daughter was approaching sexual maturity and could be
seen as a younger version of her mother and father. Elements
of jealously led to family rows. Finally the daughter would
withdraw from the world of rows and emotional tensions,
refusing to communicate and would start behaving in a strange
manner. This nervous breakdown would result in the diagnosis
of schizophrenia. In other words the family can make you
mad!!
Domestic Violence:
The radical psychiatrists have highlighted the emotional
tensions that family life can involve and Feminists have
highlighted male power in marriages. These approaches
combine when issues of domestic violence and abuse are
considered.
A clear picture emerges from studies, and more general
accounts of in the mass media, show that men, whether
husbands or fathers, are responsible for the majority of
violence against other family members. Female violence is rare.
A number of studies since 1970 have taken place, Dobash and
Dobash, 1979, Pahl 1985
Stats show that:
 more than 79% of boys believe they are likely to use
violence against women in a future relationship
 More than 60% of men say they would respond violently to
a partner in certain situations
 Nearly 50% of women murders are committed by a present
or a former partner
 Domestic violence accounts for 25% of all reported crimes
according to victim support
 70% of women said that the crime they worry about the
most is rape
Police have paid more attention to family violence.