Describe the sociocultural perspective in psychology, including the terms cultural relativity and social norms; and explain why it is so important for a mental health professional today to take the sociocultural perspective into consideration when treating clients

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answer will include that the sociocultural perspective stresses the impact that social and cultural contexts have on our behavior. This is a very important perspective to view human behavior because we are rapidly becoming a multicultural society. Over 100 million Americans are now African American, Hispanic, Asian American, Native American, or Pacific Islander. In some large cities, such as Detroit and Baltimore, "minority" groups are already the majority. In the past, psychology was based mostly on the cultures of North America and Europe. Now, it is important to ask, do the principles of Western psychology apply to people in all cultures? Are some psychological concepts invalid in other cultures? Are any universal? As psychologists have probed such questions, one thing has become clear: Most of what we think, feel, and do is influenced, in one way or another, by the social and cultural worlds in which we live. If a mental health professional fails to take into consideration a person's cultural beliefs, he or she could misjudge the person's mental health. Cultural relativity is the idea that behavior must be judged relative to the values of the culture in which it occurs, which can greatly affect our understanding of "other people" including the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. To be effective, psychologists must be sensitive to people who are ethnically and culturally different from themselves. In addition to cultural differences, the behavior of people is influenced by differences in age, ethnicity, gender, religion, disability, and sexual orientation, which all affect the social norms that guide behavior. Social norms are rules that define acceptable and expected behavior for members of various groups. Too often, the unstated standard for judging what is "average," "normal," or "correct" has been the behavior of middle-aged, white, heterosexual, middle-class Western males. An appreciation of the fuller spectrum of human diversity can enrich your life, as well as your understanding of psychology.