Uncategorized

Analyze cultural attitudes, beliefs, and practices of mental health

PLEASE WRITE OUT ALL THE QUESTIONS IN BOLD AND ANSWER ACCORDINGLY.
Introduction
Culture exerts a major influence on the identification, labeling, course, and outcomes of maladaptive behaviors. Culture provides context for abnormal behaviors.
Junko Tanaka-Matsumi
The symptoms that lead to a diagnosis of a disease or disorder in one culture may not be the same in another. Consider the cultural factors that lead to these differences and how this difference of conceptualization would impact the treatment and recovery of disease. Through your readings last week, you may now have a better understanding of how each culture has its own beliefs about the causes and treatment of illness. The same reasoning applies to mental health and the definition of abnormal psychology. Should behaviors that go against social norms define mental illness?
This week, you explore culture-specific definitions of mental health. You also analyze the influence of Western medicine on these definitions.
Reference:
Global Tribe. (2003). Arun Gandhi on terrorism, nonviolence, and Gandhi. Retrieved fromhttp://www.pbs.org/kcet/globaltribe/voices/voi_gandhi.html
Objectives
Analyze cultural attitudes, beliefs, and practices of mental health
Analyze ways to promote positive social change
Discussion 1:wk#11 Defining Mental Health (One page)
Many Western groups advocate viewing mental health issues from a medical model. Providers of mental health services and advocates for the mentally ill use this medical model with the intention of reducing the stigma placed on the individual diagnosed with the mental illness. Yet, consider the startling finding that, those who adopted the biomedical and genetic beliefs about mental illness were most often those who wanted less contact with the mentally ill or thought of them as dangerous and unpredictable (Watters, 2010, p. 173). Western conceptualization of mental health and illness has spread across the globe and impacted how individuals are treated. For example, cultures may have initially been more tolerant of these behaviors due to factors such as externalized locus of control, beliefs in traditional healing, spiritual beliefs, and less expressed emotion. (Watters, 2010)
For this Discussion, review this weeks Learning Resources. Select a culture and consider how this culture perceives mental illness.
With these thoughts in mind:
Post by Day 3 your definitions of good mental health and poor mental health. Explain two ways your own culture influences your definitions of mental health. Then explain how your definition of mental health might differ from that of your selected culture. Finally, describe a behavior that is considered normal in your culture but would be considered abnormal in the culture you selected. Support your responses using the Learning Resources and the current literature.
Discussion 2: wk#11 Social Change (One page)
In this course, you may have found it interesting to discover how extensively culture impacts psychology. Culture influences human development, identity and personality, attitudes and beliefs, and healthcare. As a scholar-practitioner, you may want to create a positive social change. In doing so, reflect on your future role as a scholar-practitioner. Consider the possible future research related to culture and psychology you might be interested in conducting. Think about how you may affect social change.