What can Social Psychologists Learn from Architecture? The Asylum as Example

Abstract

In this paper I argue for a stronger consideration of the possible relationship between social psychology and architecture and architectural history. After a brief review of some of the ways in which other social psychologists have sought to develop links between social psychology and history, I consider the utility of architecture in more depth, especially to the social psychologist interested in the development of knowledge and understanding. I argue that, especially when knowledge is institutionalised, the design and use of buildings might have a particular contribution to make to the way we can understand how phenomena have been understood and approached in the past. Although many examples are relevant, I consider the case of the psychiatric hospital (or “asylum”) in more detail.

Where does research design fall short? Mental health related‐stigma as example

“…ORCID Daniel Walsh https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2132-7956 ENDNOTE 1 Word choices in the psy-related disciplines have always been contested, and the meanings they express continue to evolve (N. Rose, 2019). Words such as 'mental', 'health', 'illness', 'disorder' and even 'madness' continue to be evoked in contemporary Anglo-Saxon discourse (Foster, 2014;N. Rose, 2019).…”

“…Cognitive polyphasia “ is defined as the state in which different kinds of knowledge, with inherently different or contradictory rationalities, coexist in the minds of the same individual or group ” (de‐Graft Aikins, et al., 2019, p. 4). For example, whilst beliefs about the spaces associated with individuals with experiences of mental ill‐health (e.g., the asylum 1 ) likely inform the public's latent sense‐making processes (Foster, 2014; Harpin, 2018), an examination of the current patchwork of mental health care in the UK highlights that the meanings these spaces express are polyphasiac (Kearns et al., 2015). Namely, examining how the media reported on the redevelopment of former asylums found both demonological and biomedical explanations of mental illness are sustained in the public's imagination (Kearns et al., 2015).…”

“…He shows this process to be affectively rich, challenge the boundaries placed upon representation, and develop individuals and groups' social identities (Holton, 1988). Drawing this together, we propose that themes contain the interdependencies between what is spoken about, who is speaking, and who is addressed, and when and where the communication takes place (Caillaud & Kalampalikis, 2013; Foster, 2014; Marková, 2008; Wagner, 2015). Whilst there is a robust epistemological foundation for this broad understanding of a theme (please see Marková, 2008 for an excellent discussion), given the diversity of contents and processes included, it does present a challenge for the production of the simple coding manuals popular in health communication (Joffe, 2012).…”

“…1 1 Word choices in the psy‐related disciplines have always been contested, and the meanings they express continue to evolve (N. Rose, 2019). Words such as ‘mental’, ‘health’, ‘illness’, ‘disorder’ and even ‘madness’ continue to be evoked in contemporary Anglo‐Saxon discourse (Foster, 2014; N. Rose, 2019). However, there is limited consensus over what is considered a progressive terminology, and indeed theorists have long shown that the close examination of these words provides insight into the values of the groups who advance them (N. Rose, 2019).…”

Personal life space: Learning from Martha Muchow’s classic study

“…With classic studies such as Lewin's (1917) war landscape, but also more recent psychological analyses of, e.g. architecture (Foster, 2014), we have already seen how affordance characteristics of particular buildings and objects within certain spaces can change, and continue to change, over time. In a dialectical fashion specific socio-cultural situation-e.g.…”