Evaluation

• Usefulness - Historical Context

  • Useful due to the enhancement in our knowledge from Rosenhan about the stickiness of labels
  • May lack usefulness due to the fact that the historical views are not relevant to todays explanations of mental health and also, there are many issues with classification (e.g. reliability and validity)
• Scientific - Historical Context

  • The supernatural view is not based on objective, tangible facts.
  • However, the diagnostic manuals are standardised and consistent as a form of diagnosing mental illness
• Reductionism/Holism - Historical Context

  • Supernatural explanation doesn’t consider biological factors
  • However, definitions of abnormality are holistic, as they consider situational factors such as deviation from social norms and individual such as failing to function
• Determinism/Freewill - Historical Context

  • Rosenhan addresses how the stickiness of labels can pre determine how people treat you or interpret your behaviour based on that label
  • He also addresses how patients in a psychiatric hospital are often stripped of their human rights and not able to exercise their free will
• Nature/Nurture - Historical Context

  • The historical views focus on nature e.g. the balance of the 4 humours in our body,
  • Whereas Rosenhan illustrates the importance of our situation and how our behaviour can be influenced by our social context.
• Individual/Situational - Historical Context

  • The definitions of abnormality and the classifications of the clinical symptoms of 3 main disorders address both individual differences that people with disorders have from other ‘normal’ people, and also how they may deviate from situational norms of culturally accepted behaviour.
• Ethics - Historical Context

  • Defining abnormality can be seen as harmful as it may make people who are experiencing clinical symptoms feel emotionally damaged.
  • Also, Rosenhan exposed his participants and pseudo patients to harm
• Socially Sensitive - Historical Context

  • There is a great deal of stigma surrounding the classification and labels of mental health which is something that is heavily illustrated in the historical context e.g. Rosenhan.
  • Also, due to embarrassment of stigma, people may downplay their clinical symptoms
  • However that being said, these labels can help to raise awareness of the clinical symptoms people face
• Validity - Historical Context

  • There are many issues of validity when classifying mental illness which could lead to misdiagnosis, e.g. language barrier, cultural relativism, embarrassment and gender bias.
  • However, Rosenhan chose the participant observational method in order to gather a true natural picture of behaviour - high in internal validity
• Reliability - Historical Context

  • The DSM and ICD aim to be a standardised and consistent way of diagnosing various mental health illnesses.
  • However, a lack of standardisation as shown in Rosenhan can lead to misdiagnosis if the DSM is not used properly