Revising Psychiatry's Charter Document

Written Communication Apr 1994

Revising Psychiatry's Charter Document

LUCILLE PARKINSON McCARTHY ; JOAN PAGE GERRING

Abstract

A composition researcher and psychiatrist report findings from their 3-year study of the revision of the most important book in the mental health profession: the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III). This 500-page diagnostic taxonomy defines some 250 mental disorders, and it functions for the field as a charter document, shaping the way mental illness is understood, treated, and studied. The revision project, which culminates in 1994 with the publication of DSM-IV, is a 6-year project involving some 1,000 psychiatrists and other mental health professionals. In this study the authors examine the DSM revision using three methodologies: in Part I they trace the history of the DSM classification system; in Part II they analyze published accounts of the revision by project leaders; and finally, in Part III they observe the revision process as it was actually carried out in one of the 13 work groups. The authors conclude that the revision of DSM functions less to change the text than to achieve certain social and political effects. They find the revision works to further entrench the biomedical model of mental disorder, to maintain the dominance of psychiatry within the mental health field, and to enhance the prestige of psychiatry in relation to other medical specialties.

Journal: Written Communication
Published: 1994-04-01
DOI: 10.1177/0741088394011002001
Open Access: Closed
Topics: quantitative research multimodality race and writing revision

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (14)

Dush (2022)

Drawing Into Being: Charter Graphics and Their Functions

Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Defossez (2020)

No Magic Pills: A Burkean View on the Ambiguity of Mild Depression

Rhetoric Review
Holladay (2017)

Classified Conversations: Psychiatry and Tactical Technical Communication in On…

Technical Communication Quarterly
Smart et al. (2017)

“Someone Just Like Me”

Written Communication
Molloy (2015)

“I Just Really Love My Spirit”: A Rhetorical Inquiry into Dissociative Identity…

Rhetoric Review

Show all 14 →

Dave (2015)

Categories as Rhetorical Barriers and the Federal Response to Hurricane Katrina

Technical Communication Quarterly
Molloy (2015)

Recuperative Ethos and Agile Epistemologies: Toward a Vernacular Engagement wit…

Rhetoric Society Quarterly
Teston (2009)

A Grounded Investigation of Genred Guidelines in Cancer Care Deliberations

Written Communication
Winsor (2006)

Using Writing to Structure Agency: An Examination of Engineers' Practice

Technical Communication Quarterly
Barton (2004)

Discourse Methods and Critical Practice in Professional Communication

Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Munger (2000)

Evolution of the emergency medical services profession: A case study of EMS run…

Technical Communication Quarterly
HERNDL et al. (2000)

Research as Social Practice

Written Communication
Longo (1998)

An approach for applying cultural study theory to technical writing research

Technical Communication Quarterly
MEDWAY (1996)

Virtual and Material Buildings

Written Communication

Cites in this index (2)

KAUFER et al. (1989)

Novelty in Academic Writing

Written Communication
SWALES et al. (1987)

The Writing of Research Article Introductions

Written Communication

Also cites 38 works outside this index ↓

10.1002/1520-6696(198201)18:1<32::AID-JHBS2300180105>3.0.CO;2-0

↗
Blashfield, R. K.

The classification of psychopathology: Neo-Kraepelinian and quantitative approaches

↗
10.1037/0021-843X.100.3.262

↗
10.1016/0010-440X(90)90049-X

↗
10.1037/0021-843X.100.3.302

↗
10.1002/1098-108X(199205)11:4<333::AID-EAT2260110407>3.0.CO;2-K

↗
10.1001/archpsyc.1972.01750190059011

↗
10.1176/ajp.145.11.1446

↗
10.1176/ajp.138.9.1198

↗
10.1037/0021-843X.100.3.407

↗
10.1176/ajp.147.11.1439

↗
10.1001/archpsyc.1989.01810040079012

↗
10.1176/ajp.148.4.421

↗
10.2307/358988

↗
10.1037/0021-843X.100.3.297

↗
10.1001/archpsyc.1990.01810220085011

↗
Lincoln, Y.

Naturalistic inquiry

↗
10.1037/0021-843X.100.3.271

↗
10.1037/0003-066X.38.7.804

↗
10.1037/0021-843X.100.3.245

↗
10.2307/377691

↗
10.1176/ajp.149.1.112

↗
10.1016/S0002-7138(09)61060-8

↗
10.1037/0003-066X.40.5.513

↗
10.1037/0003-066X.32.12.1017

↗
10.1016/0010-440X(88)90047-8

↗
10.1093/schbul/8.4.592-a

↗
10.1037/0003-066X.40.5.522

↗
10.1037/0021-843X.100.3.294

↗
10.1002/1098-108X(199204)11:3<191::AID-EAT2260110302>3.0.CO;2-S

↗
10.1176/ajp.136.6.815

↗
10.1001/archpsyc.1988.01800330105013

↗
10.1002/1098-108X(199205)11:4<301::AID-EAT2260110402>3.0.CO;2-9

↗
10.1007/BF00960617

↗
10.1037/0021-843X.100.3.280

↗
10.1001/archpsyc.1988.01800360083013

↗
10.1001/archpsyc.1990.01810220090012

↗
10.1176/ajp.148.4.463

↗

CrossRef global citation count: 33 View in citation network →