Ethical considerations in diagnosis There are a lot of ethical consideration in psychological diagnosis, and they greatly influence the process of diagnose. Szasz pointed out ethical issues in diagnosis, which is labeling&stigma. He argues that patients labeled as “mentally disorder” “criminal” would effect their position in society. They would be reject by the society because of the labeling. His argument had effect the classification system, in DSM-IV the new identity are given to those patients so they would be accept by the society.
Historical Perspectives of Abnormal Psychology Abnormal psychology is defined as the study of psychological characteristics that often deviate outside of the norm (Cherry, 2005). This perspective generally encompasses an array of perspectives ranging from disorders to altered mental patterns that affect the normal functioning of an individual as part of society. Typically, this type of impairment is accompanied by behavior, either disruptive or of a distorted nature. There are several approaches used in abnormal psychology in addition, it is important to examine the origin of abnormal psychology in an effort to rationalize the evolution of this scientific discipline (Cherry, 2005). To understand the basis of abnormal psychology, it is essential to recognize that the individuals who make up these categories fall very far at the other end of the normal spectrum.
Legal action and social integration, with is very diplomatic as oppose to negative actions such as forcing change through violence. Legal action is the first stepping stone to change, things like legalizing gay marriage, will help dissolve prejudice in the general public. As prejudice is born from ignorance, social integration will help society see the prejudices in a better light through their own personal experience. Australia is quite a multicultural and diverse society, but still there are discrimination issues that need to be addressed with and the best way to do that is through legal action. Baby steps such as legalizing gay marriage and racial profiling would eventually lead up to more direct laws to protect people against prejudice.
The behavioral perspective indicates that the reasoning for abnormal behavior is because there is inadequate learning and conditioning. The cognitive perspective believes abnormal behavior is because of false assumptions of particular thoughts and behaviors. The social-cultural perspective defines abnormal behavior as behavior learned from the environment. Abnormal psychology has evolved into a scientific discipline over centuries of research. Abnormal psychology has been studied and examined for answers over these centuries.
Allport, in an attempt to define social psychology said it scientifically tried to explain the cognitions of the individual (for example behaviours) and how they are “influenced by the actual, imagined or implied presence of human beings” (Allport, 1954). In this essay I intend to start with writing about a few different social psychologists and a couple of famous studies to give a bit of background, before the crisis in social psychology. I then aim to develop this into showing what brought about the crisis - its contributions; I will address the various critiques of early experimental social psychology. After the contributions I will write about what happen after the “crisis” and assess if it had a big outcome on the discipline of social psychology. Social psychology has in roots in the beginning of the 20th century in America.
CRIME AND DEVIANCE Deviancy is any behaviour that defies the norms of a particular social group. It is anti-social behaviour/or non-normative behaviour or behaviour that does not conform to societal expectations. Definition: American sociologists Marshall Clinard cited in Haralambos and Holborn (1995:387) defines deviancy as, “Any behaviour that is in a disapproved direction and of a sufficient degree to exceed the tolerance limit of that community. This definition has been criticised for ignoring those forms of deviancy which are tolerable. - Deviancy should be viewed as arelative act i.e.
THEORY OF SOCIAL ORDER Social order: the manner in which a society is organized and the rules and standards required to maintain that organization. (Farlex) It is basically the totality of interpersonal human relationship in the society. Social Disorder: Excessive fear of embarrassment in social situations that is extremely intrusive and can have huge effects on the personal and professional relationships. It can also be called social phobia. It is very persistence and can be termed as a irrational fear of certain situations or objects (Medicine.net, 2000) INTRODUCTION: Erving Goffman and Michael Foucault are social scientists trying to explain that how social order is created in a society and where is it originated from.
The humanist approach doesn’t describe deviance as a behavior, rather defining it by the reaction and it being a subjective experience. The positivists focus on the high consensus deviance, the deviance that the majority agrees upon, such as hurting yourself or someone else. They want to explain the behavior and believe that it’s caused by the social environment. One theory used to explain behavior by the positivists is control theory. Control theory helps explain “crime, deviance, and especially delinquency” (56) In 1969, Travis Hirschi developed control theory.
This paper will argue that Robert K. Merton’s theory of anomie is a good foundation for the explanation of deviance in society; it is far too general in its assumptions and much too vague in its consideration of certain circumstances. The paper will begin with a review of Merton’s theory and then point out the how his theory succeeds in providing a universal explanation of the incidence of many forms of deviance, while failing to explain the occurrence of “white collar” crime and crimes of passion, assuming a uniform culture, and ignoring other theories which state that it is in fact the structure of society that deters us from deviance. The concept of anomie was originally developed by Emile Durkheim in his 1897 book, Suicide. Durkheim used the term anomie, which he borrowed from the French philosopher Jean-Marie Guyau, to describe the lack of social regulation in modern societies as one way that could raise suicide rates (Durkheim, 1897). The criminologist Robert Merton, applied Durkheim’s concept of anomie to modern industrialized societies, and redefined the term as the structure of a society in which there is a significant gap “between valued cultural ends and legitimate societal means to those ends” (Akers, 2000).
Historical trends in psychological enquiry, in addition to fundamental shifts in Psychology’s subject base has led to the use of the scientific method. Ultimately, the aim of the scientific method is to test hypothesis by falsifying them. It is impossible to prove a hypothesis correct but we are able to prove a hypothesis wrong. Karl Popper saw falsifiability as a black and white definition, that if a theory is falsifiable, it is scientific, and if not, then it is unscientific. Empirical data is information that is gained through a direct observation or an experiment rather than a reasoned argument or unfounded belief.