title: The social identity of the chronic schizophrenic.
abstract: Using ethnographic research methods in a sample of institutionalized male schizophrenics, an emic typology of patient social identities was derived. Interview and observational data yielded three general status classes comprising thirteen associated identities: killer, fighter, assaultive person, fag, rapist, doper, drunk, victim, con, nut, weirdo, snitch, and disoriented. An individual's social identity varied depending upon his current setting within the hospital (official, private, patient-staff interaction, or outside). This emic-derived typology is contrasted with the etic typologies which dominate the literature (e.g. Goffman, Salisbury and Henry), and the importance of ethnographic study in social psychiatry is highlighted.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000987:Antisocial Personality Disorder / Q000523:psychology; D002908:Chronic Disease; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012917:Social Adjustment; D012919:Social Behavior; D012933:Social Identification