Discuss how culture affects the prevalence and presentation of psychological disorders.
What will be an ideal response?
Students' examples may vary.
The answer should contain the following information:
In considering the nature of the psychological disorders described in DSM-5, it's important to keep in mind that the specific disorders reflect Western cultures at the turn of the twenty-first century. The classification system provides a snapshot of how its authors viewed mental disorder when it was published. In fact, the development of the most recent version of DSM was a source of great debate, in part reflecting issues that divide society.
One specific newly classified disorder that has been added to DSM-5 and that has caused controversy is known as disruptive mood dysregulation disorder. This particular diagnosis is characterized by temperamental outbursts grossly out of proportion to the situation, both verbally and physically, in children between the ages of 6 and 18. Some practitioners argue these symptoms simply define a child having a temper tantrum rather than a disorder.
Similarly, someone who overeats 12 times in three months can be considered to be suffering from the new classification of binge eating disorder, which seems to some critics to be overly inclusive. Finally, hoarding behavior is now placed in its own category of psychological disorder. Some critics suggest this change is more a reflection of the rise of reality shows focusing on hoarding rather than reflecting a distinct category of psychological disturbance.
Such controversies underline the fact that our understanding of abnormal behavior reflects the society and culture in which we live. Future revisions of DSM may include a different catalog of disorders. Even now, other cultures might include a list of disorders that looks very different from the list that appears in the current DSM.
To most people raised in the United States, a person who hears voices of the recently deceased is probably a victim of a psychological disturbance. Yet some Plains Indians routinely hear the voices of the dead calling to them from the afterlife, and in their culture, that's considered perfectly normal. The voices of the Plains Indians are only one example of the role of culture in
determining what behavior should be labeled as "abnormal." In fact, among all the major adult disorders included in the DSM categorization, just a minority are found across all cultures of the world. Most others only are prevalent primarily in North America and Western Europe.
Take, for instance, anorexia nervosa, the disorder in which people develop inaccurate views of their body appearance, become obsessed with their weight, and refuse to eat, sometimes starving to death in the process. It turns out that anorexia nervosa occurs most frequently in cultures that hold the societal standard that slender female bodies are the most desirable. In most of the world, where such a standard does not exist, anorexia nervosa is rare. Until recently, there was little anorexia nervosa in Asia with some exceptions, such as the upper and upper-middle classes of Japan and Hong Kong, where Western influence is greatest. In fact, anorexia nervosa developed fairly recently even in Western cultures. In the 1600s and 1700s, it did not occur because the ideal female body in Western cultures at that time was a full-figured one.
Other cultures have disorders that do not appear in the West. For example, in Malaysia, a behavior called amok is characterized by a wild outburst in which a person, usually quiet and withdrawn, kills or severely injures another. Koro is a condition found in Southeast Asian males who develop an intense panic that the penis is about to withdraw into the abdomen. Finally, ataque de nervios is a disorder found most often among Latinos from the Caribbean. It is characterized by trembling, crying, uncontrollable screams, and verbal or physical aggression.
In sum, we should not assume that the DSM provides the final word on psychological disorders. The disorders it includes are very much a creation and function of Western cultures at a particular moment in time, and its categories should not be seen as universally applicable.
You might also like to view...
Research on the base rate in connection with the representativeness heuristic has demonstrated that
a. people pay too much attention to the base rate in making probability judgments. b. people often reach the correct decision when the question is worded differently. c. training sessions are generally unsuccessful at getting students to use base-rate information appropriately. d. the conjunction fallacy explains why people pay so little attention to the base rate.
Eleven-month old Alvaro exclaimed, "Che!" "Oh, you want leche, milk?" beamed his mother, Lucia. Alvaro reached his hands out to grasp his bottle.As Lucia's mother watched the two she suggested, in Spanish, "Maybe Alvaro should learn to speak in English. You should speak English at home.""Mama, then you won't understand us!" Lucia replied."I'll understand what you say, but speaking English is too hard for me.""No. I want Alvaro to know his culture. He learns English at the child care center. Besides, everyone around here speaks Spanish." Lucia gestured, referring to their neighbors.Two years later, Lucia enrolled Alvaro in a preschool near her workplace. In a parent-teacher conference, his teacher explained to Lucia, "Alvaro's mathematics skills are exceptional. He's way ahead of his peers
in counting and understanding math concepts. But he lags behind his peers in vocabulary and syntax. I think he needs some extra practice speaking English to help to catch up and start first grade with his peers. Does he speak English at home?""A little, but we speak mostly Spanish. My mother only speaks Spanish. She lives with us and cares for Alvaro outside of preschool hours. And everyone in our neighborhood speaks Spanish," replied Lucia."Do you read stories to Alvaro?"Sometimes. I work at night and go to school. I'm thankful for my mother's help or I'd never be able to keep up. I try to read to Alvaro a couple of times a week."What challenges do bilingual children commonly face in learning language? What will be an ideal response?
Which statement does not describe the humanistic theory?
a. We have an inherent tendency to develop and reach our true potential. b. Personality is more than the sum of its individual parts. c. Personality is influenced by language, observational learning, purposeful behavior, and self-analysis d. How you perceive the world becomes your reality.
Jack and Jami are concerned that their chubby infant son Angus will become an overweight adult. Which of the following steps can they take to help prevent that?
A) Bottle-feed Angus for the first six months. B) Give Angus foods containing saturated fats. C) Limit the time Angus spends in front of the TV. D) Cut back on Angus's caloric intake throughout infancy and toddlerhood.