Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-fbnjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-18T05:59:53.241Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Rationality without reason and the aetiology of mental illness

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Chris Baldwin
Chris Baldwin*
Affiliation:
Wrexham Maelor Hospital, Clwyd
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

For over three centuries we, in Western societies, have lived in an Age of Reason. The accepted wisdom is that decision-making must be a purely rational process devoid of emotion and underpinned by objective knowledge. This article draws attention to the invasion of human affairs by an ideology which makes deliberate use of one kind of rationality to the exclusion of all others. Changes in work and its organisation have been particularly driven by economic rationality which allows no thought for the effects on individuals. The clinical evidence centres around four specific cases which are presented against a background of the business practices current in the control of work. It is argued that these have a deleterious effect on mental health, especially for those psychologically disposed to respond faithfully to management calls for greater teamwork and commitment.

Type
Original Papers
Information
Psychiatric Bulletin , Volume 20 , Issue 9 , September 1996 , pp. 530 - 532
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1996

References

British Medical Journal (1995) News Column. British Medical Journal 310, 1155.Google Scholar
Burrell, G. & Morgan, G. (1979) Sociological Paradigms and Organisational Analysis, pp 126–130. Aldershot: Gower.Google Scholar
Campbell, A. (1987) The Democratic Control of Work, pp 160. Oxford: Plunkett Foundation.Google Scholar
Festinger, L. (1957) A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Golby, J. M. (1986) Culture and Society in Britain 1850–1890. Oxford: Open University.Google Scholar
Habermas, J. (1984) The Theory of Communicative Action, Vol 1: Reason and the Rationalisation of Society. Boston, Mass: Beacon Press.Google Scholar
Healy, D. Use of the Medico-Psychological Association by its Irish members. In 150 Years of British Psychiatry 1841–1991 (eds Berrios, G. E. & Freeman, H.), p. 317. London: Gaskell.Google Scholar
Mintzberg, H. (1991) Who should control the corporation? In The Strategy Process (ed. Mintzberg, H. & Quinn, J. B.), pp 402. London: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Peters, T. J. & Waterman, R. H. (1982) In Search of Excellence, pp 45. London: Harper and Row.Google Scholar
Storey, J. (1991) New Perspectives on Human Resource Management London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Walton, R. E. (1985) From control to commitment in the workplace. Harvard Business Review, March–April.Google Scholar
West, L. (1995) Stress and Depression: Employers' Legal Liabilities and Responsibilities (Proceedings, International Health and Safety at Work Conference 1995). London: Paramount.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.