Social and Cultural Approaches Flashcards
How does culture affect what is considered to be abnormal
- Decisions about abnormal behaviour always involve social judgments and are based on the values and expectations of one’s culture and subculture
- Delusion, the belief is not ordinarily accepted by other members of the persons culture or subculture (I.e. it is not an article of religious faith)
Examples where culture constrains what is considered adaptive or maladaptive
- Female orgasmic disorder, some cultures don’t believe that sex is for pleasure
- 1973, homosexuality was removed from the DSM and conversion therapy banned in the Uk
- Smothering. Others and detached father play a role in homosexuality- Freud
The Case of Zell Kravinsky
- Donate a kidney to lower income black person
- He said that by withholding his kidney then his life is is. 4,000 times more valuable than a stranger as this was the chance of him dying (1/4000)
The case of Hetty Green
- One of the wealthiest women in the world at the time
- Refused to use heating and only wore one dress
Dictator game - Measures abnormality in terms of generosity
- Two players, dictator and receiver. (Dictator distributes £5 between herself and receiver)
- Most offer half each
- Henrich et al (2005), participants from 3 different cultures play the game:
- Uni students typically offer zero
- Orma, Hadza, Tsimane -> few if any participants offered zero
Sociocultural factors
- Psychological symptoms and patterns of symptoms are cross cultural universals
- Social cultural faceless often predict prevalence
- Andre et al (2003) assessed prevalence of major depressive disorder in various countries. 3% in Japan and 17% in the USA
Low Socioeconomic Status and Mental disorder (Pathogenic Social Influence)
- Unemployment has links with mental health
- Low economic status -> mental disorder -> low economic status
Prejudice and Discrimination (Pathogenic Social Influence)
- Race and Gender
- 1960s, schizophrenia more likely to be diagnosed in African American Men
Social Media (Pathogenic social Influences)
- “Cost of Caring”, social media users are more aware of stressful events experienced by online friends
- Social comparison is harmful
Violence and Homelessness (pathogenic social influence)
- Domestic violence - anxiety, ptsd, depression and suicidality
- 1/3 homeless people have severe mental illness
Culture and the DSM
- Diagnose and Identify mental health problems in a similar way across cultures
- This does assume that medical illness will present in a universal way across cultures
Does emotional distress manifest in the same way in different cultures
- Somatisation, experience emotional stress in the form of physical symptoms (common in Asian cultures) such as weight loss and insomnia
- Thailand is intolerant to aggression and disobedience
- Culture and drunkenness: Camba (indigenous group) had weekly benders but there was no social pathology but this was opposite for uni students
Capgras Delusion and Culture
Ellis & Young, result as damage to neural pathways.
There is a discord in how a familiar person may look and the way they feel
Gibson et al (2013), believe people use voice editing techniques to disguise themselves
Delusions of Reference
- Most common themes = paranoia, grandiosity and ideas of reference
- Believing people on tv are talking about you
Gold & Gold (2012) The Truman Show Delusion
- believed they were subjects of something similar to a reality tv show broadcasting their daily life for the entertainment of others
Culture specific disorders
- Turabosis, patient believe they were being covered by sand in Saudi Arabia (wouldn’t be common in Uk)
- Hikikomori, a disorder where young people remain in their bedroom and refuse social interaction for at least 6 months (Japan)
- Koro, anxiety about penis shrinking into abdomen which will cause death (Singapore)
- Sleepy Hollow, unexpectedly falling asleep in broad daylight and some people can’t wake up for several days
