Numerous discrepancies are found today between the medically defined goals of general hospitals and the social processes which shape the experiences of hospital patients. These are traced to conflicts between the goals of administrative efficiency and of patient well-being, to problems of communication, and to numerous forces of prejudice. Ironically, general hospitals, which have effectively reduced some of the more blatant types of social prejudice, still discriminate against the victims of certain forms of disease, particularly the mentally disabled and the alcoholic.Abstract Teaser