Social Psychiatry - a Definition

Soc psychiatry is concerned not only with incidence & prevalence, but moreso with the possible significance of S-cul factor in the etiology of mental disorder. `Eclectic psychiatry' has begun to recognize this homeostasis of the fam & how the patient disturbs this equilibrium. Part of the domain of soc psychiatry is to draw attention to the totality of the fam as an object of therapeutic concern. Cultural inheritance must be recognized for its impact upon fam structure, values, ethics, goals, att's, etc. Facts derived from cultural anthropol'al studies & sociol'al analyses must be connected with the intra-personal dynamics revealed through the biographic methods of the psychiatrist. This closer integration of the disciplines is called the essence of soc psychiatry; it seeks to determine signif facts in fam & society which affect adaptation (or can be shown to have etiological significance) as revealed by studying individuals & groups, functioning in their natural setting. Soc psychiatry becomes a study of the 'etiology & dynamics' of persons seen in their total, environmental setting. E. B. Piedmont.