Peer Confrontation Groups: What, Why, and Whether
WILLIAM W. VAN STONE M.D.1, and
ROBERT GILBERT M.S.W.2
1 Assistant Chief of Psychiatry, Veterans Administration Hospital, 3801 Miranda Ave., Palo Alto, Calif. 94304 and Clinical Instructor, Department of Psychiatry, Stanford University Medical School, Stanford, Calif.
2 Director of the Confrontation Ward, Veterans Administration Hospital, 3801 Miranda Ave., Palo Alto, Calif. 94304
The authors describe a program using the principles and methods of peer confrontation groups—treatment settings for addicts, alcoholics, ex-convicts, etc., in which nontraditional control by the participants is used to try to bring about radical changes in the values and life-style of the members. Their program appears to counteract and contain the severe authority conflicts, dependency, underlying hostility, and profound narcissism associated with certain patients who have character disorders. A preliminary follow-up indicated that about half of those who entered the program had benefited significantly.
