Transcript Discuss cultural and ethical considerations in diagnosis

Cultural and ethical
considerations in diagnosis
By Mr Daniel Hansson
Ethical considerations
Being mentally ill may mean that the
individual is not to be held responsible
for his or her actions
Labeling
Institutionalization
No personal responsibility
May avoid punishment (e.g. the
insanity defense)
May lose his/her rights, such as the
right to consent to treatment,
institutionalization or the right to vote
(e.g. United kingdom’s mental health
act)
Institutionalization
Feelings of powerlessness
Depersonalization/deindividuation
(Compare with Rosenhan &
Zimbardo’s prison experiment)
Dependency on doctor’s and nurses
No normal interaction with staff
members of the institution
Labeling
Self fulfilling prophecies: People
may act as they are expected to
(similar to stereotype threat)
Prejudice/stereotyping/discriminati
on: People with psychological
disorders may be discriminated
Patient may think the “cure” is around
the corner
Studies for ethical considerations in
diagnosis
Rosenhan (1973)
Farina et. al. (1980)
Langer & Abelson (1974)
Cultural considerations in diagnosis
Cultural differences in the display of
certain disorders
Cultural variations in the prevalence of
disorders
Possible stereotyping of ethnic groups
may affect the validity of diagnosis
Abnormality may be culturally
constructed
Culture bound syndromes
Culture blindness: The problem of
identifying symptoms of a psychological
disorder if they are not the norm in the
culture
Examples of studies for cultural
considerations in diagnosis
Okello and Ekblad (2006)
Tabassum et. al. (2000)
Kleinman (1984)
Marsella (2003)
Jaeger (2002)
Jenkins-Hall & Sacco (1993)