Du Plessis, Rory2013-10-112014-09-302013Du Plessis, R 2013, 'Constructing patient-psychiatrist relations in psychiatric hospitals : the role of space and personal action', Social Semiotics, vol. 23, no. 3, pp. 424-443.1035-0330(print)1470-1219 (online)10.1080/10350330.2012.739003http://hdl.handle.net/2263/32037This essay investigates the role of space and personal action in the construction of patient–psychiatrist relations at psychiatric hospitals. In order to explore such a theme, the writings of R.D. Laing prove to be salutary. This is namely accredited to Laing's tenet that the staff and patients of a psychiatric hospital are institutionalised by both physical structures and personal action. A central approach taken in this essay is to explore Laing's theory through an inter-textual reading of Michel Foucault's Madness and Civilization (1967) and Erving Goffman's Asylums (1961).en© 2013 Taylor & Francis. This is an electronic version of an article published in Social Semiotics, vol. 23, no. 3, pp. 424-443, 2013. Social Semiotics is available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/csos20.R.D. LaingErving GoffmanMichel FoucaultPsychiatric hospitalsPatient-psychiatrist relationsMedical personnel and patientPsychiatric hospital patients in literaturePsychiatric hospitals -- EmployeesPostprint Article