COERCIVE INTERACTIONS IN A PSYCHIATRIC EMERGENCY ROOM

This paper describes the prevalence of coercive and non-coercive effor ts to influence patients' admission decisions in a psychiatric emergen cy room. The findings are based on previously collected transcripts of the interaction between patients and families and emergency room staf f in 405 cases. Although a significant percentage of the patients were involuntarily admitted, otherwise the most prominent pressures were e fforts by attending physicians to persuade patients about what would b e the most appropriate disposition. However, a detailed qualitative an alysis of the interaction suggest that the clinical staffs power to co mmit patients against their will affects the way all parties interpret the staffs ''persuasion'' in such a way that it may be understood as quite coercive.