Chapter 2- Historical And Contemporary Views Of Abnormal Behaviour Flashcards
Describe Hippocrates’ contributions to the conceptualization of the nature and causes of abnormal behaviour
Often referred to as the father of modern medicine. Denied that deities and demons intervened in the development of illnesses and instead insisted that mental disorders, like other diseases, had natural causes and appropriate treatment. He believed that the brain was the central organ of intellectual activity and that mental disorders were due to brain pathology. Also emphasized the importance of heredity and predisposition and pointed out that injuries to the head could cause sensory and motor disorders.
Classified all mental disorders into three general categories, mania, melancholia, and phrenitis or brain fever and relied heavily on a clinical observation.
The four elements of the material world were thought to be earth, air, fire, and water, which had attributes of heat, cold, moistness, and dryness. These elements combined to form the four essential fluids of the body-blood, phlegm, bile, and black bile. The fluids combined in different proportions within different individuals, and a person’s temperament was determined by which of the four humours was dominant.
Describe the important contributions from Plato to the conceptualization of the nature and causes of abnormal behaviour
Studied mentally disturbed individuals who had committed criminal acts and how to deal with them. Felt that such persons were, and some obvious sense, not responsible for their acts and should not receive punishment in the same way as normal persons.
Viewed psychological phenomena as responses of the whole organism, reflecting its internal state and natural appetites. Emphasized the importance of individual differences in intellectual and other abilities and took into account socio-cultural influences in shaping thinking and behavior.
His ideas regarding treatment included a provision for hospital care for individuals who developed believe that run counter to those of the broader social order.
Shared the belief that mental disorders were in part divinely caused
Describe the important contributions from Aristotle to the conceptualization of the nature and causes of abnormal behaviour
Was a pupil of Plato. Among his most lasting contributions to psychology are his descriptions of consciousness. Held the view that thinking as directed would aluminate pain and help to attain pleasure. Rejected the idea that mental disorders could be caused by psychological factors such as frustration and conflict. Generally subscribed to the Hippocratic theory of disturbances in the bile
Describe the important contributions from Galen to the conceptualization of the nature and causes of abnormal behaviour
Made a number of original contributions concerning the anatomy of the nervous system based on dissections of animals. Took a scientific approach to the field, dividing the causes of psychological disorders into physical and mental categories. These causes included injuries to the head, excessive use of alcohol, shock, fear, adolescence, menstrual changes, economic reversals, and disappointment in love.
Discuss how mental disorders were viewed during the Middle Ages
The more scientific aspects of Greek medicine survived in the Islamic countries of the Middle East.
In Europe, scientific inquiry into abnormal behaviour was limited, and the treatment of psychologically disturbed individuals was characterized more often by ritual or superstition than by attempts to understand an individual’s condition. The middle ages in Europe were largely devoid of scientific thinking and humane treatment for the mentally disturbed.
Give examples of mass madness or mass hysteria and summarize the explanations offered for this unusual phenomenon
To rent his him: a disorder that included an uncontrollable impulse to dance that was often attributed to the bite of the southern European tarantula or wolf spider. This dancing mania later spread to Germany and the rest of Europe, where it was known as Saint Vitus’s dance.
Lycanthropy: a condition in which people believed themselves to be possessed by wolves and imitated their behaviour
Explanations: reached it’s peak during the 14th and 15th centuries, a period noted for social oppression, famine, and epidemic diseases and a plague in Europe known as the black death which killed millions. Undoubtedly, many of the peculiar cases of mass madness were related to the depression, fear, and wild mysticism engendered by the terrible events of this period. People simply could not believe that frightening catastrophes such as the Black death could have natural causes and thus could be within their power to control, prevent, or even create
Outline the contributions in the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance of Paracelsus
A Swiss physician who was an early critic of superstitious beliefs about possession. He also postulated a conflict between the instinctual and spiritual nature of human beings, formulated the idea of psychic causes for mental illness, and advocated treatment by “bodily magnetism”, later called hypnosis.
His view of abnormal behaviour was coloured by his belief in astral influences. He was convinced that the moon exerted a supernatural influence over the brain
Outline the contributions in the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance of John Weyer
A German physician and waiter who is deeply disturbed by the imprisonment, torture, and burning of people accused of witchcraft. Made a careful study of the entire problem called on the deceits of the demons which contains a step-by-step for a bottle of the malleus Malifecarum , A witch hunting handbook for use in recognizing and dealing with those suspected of being witches. Argued that a considerable number, if not all, of those imprisoned, tortured, and burn for witchcraft were really sick in mind or body and that great wrongs were being committed against innocent people.
Describe the inhumane treatment that mental patients received in early “insane asylum’s” in Europe and the United States
The earliest so islands were begun as a way of removing from society trouble some individuals who cannot care for themselves. They were not pleasant places but primarily residences or storage places for the insane where unfortunate residents lived and died amid conditions of incredible filth and cruelty.
London- Bedlam: widely known for its deplorable conditions and practices. The more violent patients are exhibited to the public for one penny a look, and the more harmless inmates were forced to seek charity on the streets of London
Describe the humanitarian reforms in the treatment of mental patients that was instigated by Philippe Pinel.
In charge of La Bicetre in Paris. Removed the chains from some of the inmates as an experiment to test his views that mental patients should be treated with kindness and consideration, and a six people, not as vicious beasts or criminals. Chains were removed, sunny rooms were provided, patients were permitted to exercise in the hospital grounds, and kindness was extended to these poor beings. The effect was almost miraculous. The previous noise, filth, and abuse replaced by order and peace
Describe the humanitarian reforms in the treatment of mental patients that was instigated by William Tuke
And English quaker who established the York retreat, a pleasant country house where mental patients lived, work, and rested in a kindly, religious atmosphere.
The Quakers believed in treating all people, even the insane, with kindness and acceptance. Their view that kind acceptance would help mentally ill people recover sparked the growth of more humane psychiatric treatment during a period when mental patients were ignored and mistreated.
Describe the humanitarian reforms in the treatment of mental patients that was instigated by Benjamin rush
The founder of American psychiatry and also one of the signers of the declaration of independence. While he was associated with the Pennsylvania Hospital, encouraged more humane treatment of the mentally ill; wrote the first systematic treatise on psychiatry in America; and was the first American to organize a course in psychiatry.
Did not escape entirely from the established beliefs of his time, because his beliefs were tainted with astrology, and his principal remedies were bloodletting and purgatives. Also used a device called the tranquilizing chair, which was probably more torturous than tranquil. The chair was thought to lessen the force of the blood on the head while the muscles were relaxed
Describe the humanitarian reforms in the treatment of mental patients that was instigated by Dorothea Dix
Became a champion of poor and forgotten people in prisons and mental institutions for decades during the 19th century. Began to teach in a women’s prison and through this contact became acquainted with the deplorable conditions in jails and asylums. Carried on a campaign that aroused people and legislatures to do something about the inhumane treatment of the mentally ill, and through her efforts, the mental hygiene movement grew in America.
Explain how the discovery of a biological basis for general paresis and a handful of other disorders contributed in a major way to the development of a scientific approach to abnormal psychology as well as to the emergence of modern experimental science which was largely biological
General paresis is syphilis of the brain producing paralysis and insanity and typically causing death within 2 to 5 years as a result of brain deterioration. First, Bayle differentiated general presets as a specific type of mental disorder by giving a complete and accurate description of the symptom pattern and his reasons for believing it to be a distinct disorder.
Richard Von Kraft-Ebbing conducted experiments involving the inoculation of paretic patients with matter from syphilitic sources. None of the patients developed secondary symptoms of syphilis, which led to the conclusion that they must previously have been infected. This experiment established the relationship between general paresis and syphilis and then a decade later August one Wasserman devised a blood test for syphilis.
Julius Von Wagner-Jauregg introduced the malarial fever treatment of syphilis and paresis because he knew that the high fever associated with malaria killed off the bacteria.
The field of abnormal psychology had come a long way, from superstitious beliefs to scientific proof of how brain pathology can cause a specific disorder. This breakthrough raised great hopes of the medical community that organic bases would be found for many other mental disorders.
Explain the problems associated with interpreting historical events
The tenacity of historical misinformation. There is a theme in the history of science of the widespread acceptance of false accounts. It is not uncommon for psychological findings and theories to be exaggerated or distorted.
Another factor that can affect the quality of historical information is that our views of history and our understanding of events are sometimes open to reinterpretation.
We cannot rely on direct observation, and instead must turn to written documents or historical surveys of the times. The sources me not reveal directly the information we seek and we are restricted in our conclusions by the documents or sources available to us.
Concepts important to historical interpretation may have a “different meeting to us today than they had in the past, or the meaning may simply be unclear
Bias can come in to play during interpretation
