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)