social and cultural approaches Flashcards
how does culture affect what is considered to be abnormal?
how does culture affect what is considered to be abnormal?
culture plays a role in determining what is and what is not abnormal
how does culture affect what is considered to be abnormal?
what are decisions about abnormal behaviour always involve?
decisions about abnormal behaviour always involve social judgements and are based on the values and expectations of one’s culture or subculture
DSM definition of delusion
Firmly holding an incorrect inference about external reality, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary and almost unanimous disagreement.
belief as group markers
what is female orgasmic disorder?
recurrent delay in or absence of orgasm following normal sexual excitement phase
homosexuality and the DSM
There are many instances in which groups representing particular social values have brought pressure to bear on decisions shaping the DSM
what does the DSM I and II state about homosexuality?
homosexuality is a form of mental disorder
what did gay/lesbian rights leaders challenge about homosexuality in the 60s
they challenged the assumption that homosexuality was pathological
Freudian theories of homosexuality
Homosexuality develops in people whose heterosexual desires are too psychologically threatening (Rado, 1962).
gender identity and the DSM
DSM-IV: gender identity disorder
Intense discomfort with one’s biological gender; strong identification with, and desire to be, the opposite gender
gender identity and the DSM
DSM-5: gender dysphoria
Emphasises importance of distress about the incongruity between biology and identity.
Feb 2017 rally
Rally against Trump’s decision to revoke guidelines issued on transgender students’ rights in schools
June 2020 rally
Stonewall rally focused on deaths in black trans community
The case of Zell Kravinsky
- Kravinsky sold all his assets
- he wanted to donate a kidney to a lower-income black person but professions refused as the procedure was likely to become unssuccessful
The case of Hetty Green
- known as the “world’s geatest miser”
- had an estimated networth of $100-200 million ($3bn)
- she would never turn on the heat or change her clothes
were the cases of Hetty Green and Zell Kravinsky abnormal?
unable to tell, how could we measure what the ‘norm’ is when it comes to generosity?
what is the dictator game?
- a dictator (distributes money) and a receiver (receiving money)
- the receiver has no input into the decision and must accept whatever the dictator chooses to give
dictator game results
Many Dictators show a preference for fairness, offering exactly half of the available money. However, the modal offer among uni students is typically zero…
* differs across cultures
what is the role of sociocultural factors in the aeitology of mental dis
sociocultural factors: evidence
many psychological disturbances - symptoms and patterns of symptoms - are cross-cultural universals
* but sociocultural factors often predict prevalence
sociocultural factors often predict prevalence example:
Andrade et al. (2003). Assessed prevalence of major depressive disorder in various countries; prevalence ranged
from 3% in Japan to 17% in the USA.
pathogenic social influences: low SES
2 points
- Western society: Inverse correlation between SES and incidence of mental disorders
- relationships stronger for certain types of disorders (e.g., stronger for ADP than depression)
pathogenic social influences: low unemployment
Unemployment associated with emotional distress and
vulnerability to psychopathology. Underemployment (e.g.,
demotions, downsizing) has comparable effects
low SES –> mental disorder?
stressors, resources, help
familial: LBW, modelling
mental disorder –> low SES?
primary and secondary difficulties may decrease SES
pathogenic social influences: other factors
prejudice and discrimination
pathogenic social influences: social media
social media users are more aware of stressful events experienced by online friends
pathogenic social influences: other factors
violence and homelessness
* e.g. domestic violence against women and children leads to anxiety, PTSD, depression and suicide
how does culture shape the clinical presentation of mental disorders
Culture and the DSM: one important role of the DSM
to identify and diagnose mental health problems in a similar way across cultures. This approach assumes that medical illnesses will present in a universal way across cultures.
culture and emotional distress
Somatization
a tendency to experience and communicate emotional distress in the form of physical symptoms
* rare in western cultures
* common in Asian cultures
the more Westernised an individual is:
the less likely they are to report predominantly somatic symptoms when reporting psychological distress
cultural symptoms repertoire
what did Edward Shorter state in his book?
We might think of culture as possessing a ‘symptom repertoire’ – a range of physical symptoms available to the unconscious mind for the physical expression of psychological conflict
culture and behavioural control
Thailand behaviour
Some cultures (e.g., Thailand) highly intolerant of undercontrolled behaviour. Children are taught to inhibit expression of anger
culture and behavioural control
what is expression of anger associated with?
it is associated with biological health risk (BHR) - but moderated by culture
* Kitayama et al. (2015). Greater expression of anger predicted increased BHR for Americans, but reduced BHR for Japanese.
culture and drunkness
drinking games
how much people drink may matter less than how they drink it
culture and drunkeness
what do people learn about their drunkeness?
People learn about drunkenness based on what their societies teach them, and by aligning their behavior with these teachings, they become living examples that validate their society’s beliefs.
what do cultural factors such as technology do?
Cultural factors such as extant technology can shape the content of reality-distortion symptoms such as delusions and hallucinations.
what does the capgras delusion result from?
damage to neural pathways underpinning the emotional
component of face recognition.
anomalous experience of faces
Discordance between how a familiar person “looks” and the
way that they “feel”.
capgras delusion and culture
what are the most recent presentations of capgras
cyborgs or robots
delusions of reference
what is the most common delusional themes?
paranoia, grandosity and ideas of reference
* e.g. believing that people on TV or radio are talking about you or to you
the Truman Show delusion
Described five patients who believed they were the subjects of something akin to a reality television show, broadcasting their daily life for the entertainment of others. (Gold & Gold 2012)
culture specific disorders
what can culture shape? (psychopathology)
culture can shape the expression of psychopathology. At the extreme, entire patterns of symptoms may be more or less unique to a particular culture.
culture specific disorders
Windigo/Wendigo
3 points
- Algonquin Indian hunters
- Victims become anxious and agitated, convinced they are bewitched
- Fears centre on being turned into cannibal by the power of a monster with a craving for human flesh.
culture specific disorders
kitsunetuski
a beleif that one is possessed by. fox and that one’s facial expressions change to resemble those of a fox
culture specific disorders
Hikikomori
a disorder of acute social withdrawl in which young people remain in their bedroom and refuse social interaction for at least 6 moths
culture specific disorders
Hikikomori
a disorder of acute social withdrawl in which young people remain in their bedroom and refuse social interaction for at least 6 months
culture specific disorders
sleepy hollow - Kazakhstan
Every 10th villager has unexpectedly fallen asleep in broad daylight – some unable to wake up for several days.
* Despite numerous attempts to find the cause of the inexplicable disorder, the Sleepy Hollow riddle remained unsolved until 2015.
mystery of kazakh solved
villagers who fell asleep for days at a time and suffered hallucinations were poisoned by disused uranium mine nearby
