Social Networks and Pathways to Psychiatric Treatment

Abstract

Cultural interpretations have dominated the study of class differences in entering psychiatric treatment. This study compares the power of cultural variables and structural variables to predict the entry into psychiatric treatment. The concept of the social network is used to show that structural relationships, in addition to the culture of the different social classes, are important predictors of psychiatric labels and referrals, severity of symptoms, and duration of symptoms in the community. Interviews with 120 outpatients and short-term inpatients at a community mental health center provide the data for the study. The findings support the hypothesis that structural variables are important determinants of the pathways into psychiatric treatment and point to the need to link the structure of social networks to the content of networks.

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