The TAPS Project. 4: An observational study of the social life of long-stay patients.

Observations of long-stay patients in a club in a psychiatric hospital were carried out unobtrusively over several months. Much of the social activity that went on was stimulated by an economy based around the purchase and exchange of tea and cigarettes, and the borrowing and lending of small change. Most patients could be fitted into one of four social categories: helpers, friends, nuisances, and the asocial. The inter-rater reliability of the observations was found to be 0.95. A close correspondence emerged between the observations of patients' social behaviour and material reported by patients when interviewed with the Social Network Schedule.