 The book is composed of four essays : " Characteristics of Total <unk> " ( 1957 ) ; " The <unk> Career of the Mental <unk> " ( 1959 ) ; " The <unk> of a Public Institution : A Study of Ways of Making Out in a Mental Hospital " ; and " The Medical Model and Mental <unk> : Some Notes on the <unk> of the <unk> Trades " . The first three essays focus on the experiences of patients ; the last , on professional @-@ client interactions . Goffman is mainly concerned with the details of psychiatric hospitalization and with the nature and effects of the process he calls " <unk> " . He describes how <unk> <unk> people into the role of a good patient , someone " dull , harmless and inconspicuous " – a condition which in turn reinforces notions of <unk> in severe mental illness . Total institutions greatly affect people 's interactions ; yet , even in such places , people find ways to redefine their roles and reclaim their identities . 
