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Situating Disorder: Mental Disorder in Context

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Critical Thinking in Clinical Assessment and Diagnosis

Part of the book series: Essential Clinical Social Work Series ((ECSWS))

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Abstract

This chapter addresses the various contexts—cultural, historical, sociological, and individual—in which “mental disorder” exists and is understood. Clearly, notions of normalcy (the baseline against which “abnormal” is measured) vary by cultural values and historical era: what is “disorder” in one place or at one time may not be “disorder” in another, as the chapter illustrates through well-documented examples. Thus, assessment protocols based on a dominant Eurocentric paradigm may not capture the experience, meaning, or impact of a particular client’s distress. Clinicians are urged to consider the influence of environment, social context, cultural values and beliefs, class, race, and gender in how client problems are viewed. A detailed review is provided of social work theory and research pertaining to each of these issues, including proposed models for better addressing cultural and environmental factors. The role of relationships—another kind of context—is also considered, together with an overview of the debate about including “relational disorders” in the DSM, the connection between relational and attachment issues, and suggestions for assessing attachment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School for Social Work, Smith College, Northampton, MA, USA

    Barbara Probst

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  1. Barbara Probst
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Correspondence to Barbara Probst .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social Work, Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts, USA

    Barbara Probst

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Probst, B. (2015). Situating Disorder: Mental Disorder in Context. In: Probst, B. (eds) Critical Thinking in Clinical Assessment and Diagnosis. Essential Clinical Social Work Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-17774-8_5

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