A Symbolic Interactionist View of Psychosis.

This paper proposes a symbolic interactionist basis for the identification of insanity. In contrast to the labeling model and the psychiatric model, the symbolic interactionist view holds that the defining feature of psychosis is the observer's inability to take the role of the actor or to make successful attributions. Psychotic behavior is thus not simply an objective feature of an individual but an interactional phenomenon whose fundamental characteristic is role-taking. It is shown that the same thought, mood, or behavior may be either sane or insane depending on role-taking success or failure. The only exception to this generalization is when the observer attributes the failure to take the role of the other to his or her own limitations. The paper then discusses several challenges to the symbolic interactionist approach. Finally, the labeling theory and symbolic interactionist approaches are compared. Although both focus on the societal reaction to insanity, it is shown that they differ in a number of fundamental ways. It is argued that symbolic interactionism provides a more correct understanding of the social definition of insanity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]