In two mental hospitals sociological research was done about the specific character of social interactions between mental patients and their professional helpers.
The starting point of the research was the patient and his referent other among the professional helpers. These helpers were therefore selected on account of the significance given by the mental patient to these helpers on behalf of his own social functioning in the hospital. Both the categories of the researchpopulation (patients and helpers) have been approached with open-end questions and with a adjective check-list. The basic philosophy behind the research was quite simple: the better people who try to reach a common goal understand each other, the easier this goal will be reached. The meaning of social objects was for this philosophy the central point of this research, especially the meaning of being mentally-ill. The result of the research on this point appeared to be that there are many discrepancies between the mental patients and their helpers. Rather amazing, since great consensus of opinion was supposed as the patients mostly had indicated their favorite helpers as respondents.