Ethical considerations in psychological research and practice

Key ethical issues

• Labelling in diagnosis - Assigning a mental disorder label can lead to stigma.
• Informed consent - Researchers must ensure participants understand and agree to take part in research.
• HCPC guidelines - The Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) provides standards for psychologists covering conduct, performance, and ethics.

Practical issues in research design and implementation

Challenges in data collection

• Quantitative vs. qualitative data - Clinicians must choose between quantitative and qualitative data.
• Balancing validity and reliability - This involves balancing validity with reliability in terms of the type of data gathered.

Reductionism in psychological explanations

Application to mental disorders

• Biological reductionism - This explains mental disorders like depression or OCD through biological factors, such as dysfunction in neurotransmitters.
• Limitations of reductionism - By isolating causes to the biological level, diagnoses become non-holistic, and treatment is purely focused on the biological level.

Comparisons between ways of explaining behaviour

Different approaches to explanation

• Biological vs. psychological explanations - The same behaviour can be explained from different approaches, typically biological and psychological.
• Diagnostic systems - Methods for categorising and diagnosing mental illness also differ between the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).

Psychology as a science

Research typically involves biological methods and treatments, such as drug therapies, leading to the domination of the medical model, which uses scientific research methods like laboratory experiments.

Cultural and gender issues in psychology

Cultural influences

• Culture-bound syndromes - Cultural differences in diagnosis practices, such as culture-bound syndromes, can cause bias in diagnosis and invalid treatments.
• Differences in diagnostic practices - Variations between ICD and DSM users also reflect cultural influences.

Gender influences

There are gender differences in the prevalence and onset of disorders.

Nature-nurture debate

Application to mental disorders

• Biological factors (nature) - Explanations for mental disorders include biological factors.
• Environmental factors (nurture) - Explanations also consider environmental factors.

Psychological understanding over time

Key changes

• DSM updates - The DSM has undergone changes over several decades.
• Therapy developments - Treatments have progressed from early antipsychotics to modern atypical antipsychotics.

Social control through psychology

Mechanisms of social control

• Deviation from social norms - Behaviours that deviate from social norms can lead to labelling as a mental disorder.
• Policy implications - This labelling creates policies for the treatment and therapy for mental health, which can be seen as a form of social control.

Psychological knowledge in society

Contributions to society

• Therapies and treatments - Advances in understanding mental disorders have led to major contributions through therapies and treatments.
• Wider acceptance - This has led to wider acceptance of those living with mental health disorders.

Socially sensitive research

Research and treatment can raise issues of labelling and stigma.