I have been wondering about Daisy and the way that she has become increasingly compliant and passive since she has been in hospital. Here are some observations.
The nurses wear a range of uniforms in different colours: navy, navy and white narrow stripes, pale blue, mid-blue, pale green or white. Presumably, they get a choice as I cannot tell the difference between a staff nurse, a nurse and a student nurse. The food orderly wears a different outfit in mid-blue. Some nursing staff wear badges which are too small for me to read without invading their personal space – and some don't. Some wear trousers and tops, some wear dresses. The male nurses' outfits are more uniform (no pun intended). Polythene aprons are constantly donned and immediately discarded – which always offends my eco sensitivities.
Doctors wear their own clothes – shirts with sleeves rolled up and ties tucked into shirts for the men and clothes of personal choice for the women.
On the other hand, despite not being ill, Daisy always wears the same thing as the other patients – one of those awful pink hospital gowns with the gaping slash at the back, which may, when she Zimmers along, reveal her fragile personal vulnerabilities at any moment.*
On top of this, she wears one of her own jumpers and on her feet, her favourite old slippers, which have seen better days. A thoughtful person gave her a new pair for Christmas, "but I don't want to wear them; I like these ones – nothing wrong with them". Asserting her independence in relation to people outside the hosptial is no problem it seems, but when it comes to her relationships inside, the story is rather different.
For one who is normally so fiercly independent, surprisingly, Daisy shows signs of an increasingly submissive attitude towards the nurses, saying things that suggest there are unspoken rules that must be obeyed, like "I'm not allowed to have that"; "you mustn't move that" or "(that patient) shouldn't be doing that".
She behaves as though she has relinquished her freedom of choice – the DVT-preventing injections, for example. Although being able to choose food from the menu, she has no idea what it will be like when it arrives (mostly disappointing) and once delivered there are no real options.
On one occasion to add a little to her exercise, I asked her if she would like to accompany me to the lift which is close to the ward, but beyond its immediate boundaries. "Oh no," she said "I'm not allowed out through those (ward) doors..."
My sense is that in this environment, she feels herself to be one of the 'guarded' – while there are those who do the 'guarding' – and who must be obeyed.
From a psychological perspective, perhaps this is not so surprising. Zimbardo conducted a fascinating experiment at Stanford University in 1973 where volunteer students adopted the roles of guards and prisoners. It was supposed to run for two weeks but had to be stopped on the sixth day because he was concerned that there was a danger that someone might be physically or mentally damaged if it was allowed to continue (more here).
In the experiment, an oscillating 'see-saw' effect played out in the relationships. The guards were given – and retained – firm control. The prisoners were totally dependent on them and became more so, while the guards became more derisive towards them, holding them in contempt and letting them know it. As the guards’ contempt for them grew, so the prisoners became more submissive and as the prisoners became more submissive, the guards became more assertive.
I wonder whether, on a very low level, something similar to this happens in older people's wards in hospitals...
When I saw how the staff ignored Doreen's cries for help (see blog post 10th January), even taking into account lack of staff training and other factors, I did feel that on some slight level, she was being punished. And Daisy's reaction, which was slightly siding with the nurses, also bears out the findings of the Zimbardo experiment.
There certainly do seem to be some parallels between the rsearchers' observations of people's behaviour in the Stanford experiment and the dynamics of Daisy's hospital ward and its inmates and there are many issues relating to both, that would make for further, interesting exploration.
*I thought Ben de Lisi had redesigned these thoughtless clothing fragments, but the NHS doesn't appear to have adopted them round my way.