Friday
May 24, 2013

Homework Help: Abnormal Psychology

Posted by Sharon on Saturday, October 22, 2011 at 10:00pm.

Please check my answers.

1). Briefly describe each of the major theoretical perspectives in maladaptive behavior.
(MY Answer)
a. Biological= genetic, hereditary factors
b. Psychodynamic=Freudian and psychosocial influences
c. Behavioral=Social learning theories and role of conditioning
d. Cognitive=how maladaptive thoughts influence behaviors

Research also suggests that Cognitive- behavioral theory focuses on "Information processing models of abnormal behavior. Cognitive restructuring of mis-perceptions. Irrational and Core beliefs"

e. Humanistic-Existential=focuses on choice, free will, and individual responsibilities

f. Community-Cultural= notion that the one's inability to effectively deal with stress affects maladaptive tendencies


2). Which of the perspectives do you believe is the ‘right’ perspective, or is there a ‘right’ perspective?
(My Answer)
For me, I do not see a right/wrong, black/white perspective as predominant. Instead, I feel like each individual case must be assessed separately. I feel that Humanistic-Existential is often valid since I believe that people have the ability to freely chose and act according, in both healthy or unhealthy manners.

On the other hand, I see Community-Cultural influences are also importance since one's inability to deal with stress can also cause maladaptive behaviors. Since a lot of behaviors are modeled from family, I also see validity in the biological one as well.


3). Explain your answer, and support your response with a minimum of one APA citation from a scholarly reference.
(My Answer)
Research also favors this one such it "Recognizes the importance of the context of problems--poverty, homelessness, lack of education or personal resources, stigma & labeling, etc. Maladaptive behavior is seen as a result of the inability to cope with external demands or stresses. Recognizes role of families and social support in either increasing or reducing risk of mental disorder"

Jiskha experts what do you think? I do not feel like a "one size fits all" approach can be applied. I think that a combination of theories are often at work.

Thank you!

Answer this Question

First Name:
School Subject:
Answer:

Related Questions

abnormal psychology - I need a reputable scholary web site that well explain the...
Psychology - There are five major perspectives of psychology used to explain a ...
psychology please help me - How is eccentric behavior different from abnormal ...
psychology - I need some datas to help me understands the following: What are ...
Psychology - I need to find at least two instances of abnormal behavior but ...
psychology - Take one of the Emotional Intelligence tests at the sites listed ...
phycology - What are the benefits and risks of using diagnostic labels to ...
Psychology - I am writing a paper and do not understand part of this question. ...
Psychology - How is eccentric behavior different from abnormal behavior? Where ...
PSYCHOLOGY - major schools of thought in psychology My answer to this is please ...

For Further Reading

Search
Members
Community