Development of the zoological garden and mental hospital

Ellenberger in 1960 described the parallel histories of the zoological garden and the mental hospital. To determine how impressions of the 2 institutions have evolved in the intervening years, students in an abnormal psychology class rated several mental hospital and zoo terms. The zoo was rated more positively than the mental hospital, but not as favorably as the wild animal park or the nature reserve. These ratings reflect the changes in zoo design and management that have occurred in the intervening years. Improvements in mental hospital design and mission were largely derailed by the deinstitutionalization movement. A second study, intended to examine the fruitfulness of Ellenberger's comparison, asked students about the "show value" of patients in different diagnostic categories. There was a negative relationship between preference for seeing patients on a tour, in which the major psychoses were top choices, and clients with less severe disorders with whom students would prefer to work professionally.