Abnormal Psychology Syllabus Spring 2019 (original) (raw)
Culture Mental Illness syllabus
In this seminar we will explore research and ideas about the cultural contexts of both mental illness and health, at the interface of psychology, medical anthropology, and cultural psychiatry. The course will examine psychiatric approaches, anthropological studies of psychopathology, epidemiology, clinical work, and recent theorizing, and then how all this may contribute to our understanding of the categories and idioms of mental illness. We will look more closely at three psychiatric disorders and suicide. We will also review current work on culture and well-being in order to better understand meanings of mental health.
The course has five objectives: 1. To introduce you to the field of psychopathology as it is currently constructed, i.e., along DSM 5 lines, and to help you listen and think diagnostically; 2. To help you think critically about the construction of the DSM 5; 3. To introduce you to the main empirical and clinical issues in each broad area of psychopathology, with an extended focus on personality disorders; 4. To deepen this encyclopedic and psychiatric approach with readings and reflections on human science contributions to understanding psychopathology; 5. To understand central issues regarding appropriate interventions for each area of psychopathology.
What makes narcissists bloom? A framework for research on the etiology and development of narcissism
Development and Psychopathology, 2009
Narcissism is a dynamic form of personality characterized by a pervasive sense of grandiosity and self-importance, and by a need to obtain continuous self-validation from others. Very little is known about its etiology and development. What factors (e.g., temperament, parenting experiences) and processes (e.g., transactions between these factors over time) cause some children to become more narcissistic than others? When does narcissism first emerge, and how does narcissism develop over time? This article describes a framework for research on the etiology and development of narcissism, and recommends ten research priorities. This research should yield fundamental knowledge and should inform intervention efforts to minimize the negative impact narcissistic individuals have on themselves and on others.
Are Normal Narcissists Psychologically Healthy?: Self-Esteem Matters
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2004
Five studies established that normal narcissism is correlated with good psychological health. Specifically, narcissism is (a) inversely related to daily sadness and dispositional depression, (b) inversely related to daily and dispositional loneliness, (c) positively related to daily and dispositional subjective well-being as well as couple well-being, (d) inversely related to daily anxiety, and (e) inversely related to dispositional neuroticism. More important, self-esteem fully accounted for the relation between narcissism and psychological health. Thus, narcissism is beneficial for psychological health only insofar as it is associated with high self-esteem. Explanations of the main and mediational findings in terms of response or social desirability biases (e.g., defensiveness, repression, impression management) were ruled out. Supplementary analysis showed that the links among narcissism, self-esteem, and psychological health were preponderantly linear.
Narcissism in Management Education
Academy of Management Learning and Education, 2010
Narcissism levels in U.S. college students have steadily risen over the past 25 years (Twenge, Konrath, Foster, Campbell, & Bushman, 2008), and these increases may be even more pronounced among business students in comparison with those in other disciplines (e.g., Robak, Chiffriller, & Zappone, 2007). This increase in narcissism has implications for both student classroom behavior and the manner in which we, as faculty, effectively teach and manage our classrooms. We explore the personality trait of narcissism, its potential manifestations in the classroom, and offer suggestions for management educators in dealing with more narcissistic students.
To the many people who have treated this misfit with compassion, Especially to my beloved wife, Carolyn: a supportive companion through thick and thin iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation reflects more than fifteen years of growing understanding concerning people who do not seem to fit in. The thousands of hours I have spent counseling persons who meet the criteria of a personality disorder have taught me more about myself than they could ever know. Although I always endeavored to treat them with compassion, I have discovered that even in using the traditional language of diagnosis I may not have been empathetic as possible. This insight is in part due to their integrity and even empathy for me.
NARCISSISM, EGO, AND SELF: KOHUT – A KEY FIGURE IN TRANSPERSONAL PSYCHOLOGY
Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 2017
Heinz Kohut is a key figure for transpersonal psychology. Learning from the treatment of patients who suffered from pathological narcissism in his psychotherapy practice, Kohut developed a theoretical model of the self in which the development of a bi-polar self supplants drive conflict as the basis of psychoanalytic theory and practice. Like Freud, Kohut believed that measured narcissism is inherently healthy and basic to human psychology. Like Jung, Kohut believed that the self, rather than the ego, is primary to human psychology and that egoistic narcissism can be transcended later in life during the normal developmental process, through what he called ''cosmic narcissism.'' Although he does not consider Kohut directly, Ferrer believes that spirituality can take on a pathological narcissistic form. Kohut's ideas have the potential to bridge psychoanalytic, analytical and transpersonal theories and may assist in bringing about a more complete understanding of the ego, the self and narcissism.
Towards a Cultural-Clinical Psychology
Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 2011
For decades, clinical psychologists have catalogued cultural group differences in symptom presentation, assessment, and treatment outcomes. We know that 'culture matters' in mental health -but do we know how it matters, or why? Answers may be found in an integration of cultural and clinical psychology. Cultural psychology demands a move beyond description to explanation of group variation. For its part, clinical psychology insists on the importance of individual people, while also extending the range of human variation. Cultural-clinical psychology integrates these approaches, opening up new lines of inquiry. The central assumption of this interdisciplinary field is that culture, mind, and brain constitute one another as a multi-level dynamic system in which no level is primary, and that psychopathology is an emergent property of that system. We illustrate cultural-clinical psychology research using our work on depression in Chinese populations and conclude with a call for greater collaboration among researchers in this field.
Teaching of Psychology, 2006
Students in advanced psychopathology courses can learn key concepts by administering semistructured interviews designed to identify specific mental disorders. Such an active learning approach potentially can help students gain fundamental knowledge about psychopathology and begin to develop clinical and research skills. To explore the value of this technique as a tool for teaching about personality disorders, 7 students participated in an applied 2semester course that focused on diagnostic interviewing. As part of the course, students learned to identify specific forms of personality pathology reliably in participants they interviewed (average K = .95, SD = .09), developed valuable clinical and research skills, and examined important conceptual issues.
For several decades, the concept of narcissism has been used to criticize society and culture(s). This paper discusses the achievements and limits of such approaches. In a first step, it sketches controversies within psychoanalysis around the notion of narcissism itself. It then proposes a categorization of cultural theories that draw on narcissism in general. The main part of the paper deals with three exemplary theories: Christopher Lasch's The culture of narcissism; Richard Sennett's The fall of public man, and the philosophy of Robert Pfaller. A detailed analysis shows that theories which try to establish causal connections between society and the occurrence of personality disorders usually fail to explicate this connection in a satisfactory way. Theories that criticize society because it supposedly fosters narcissistic personalities prove to be unconvincing. Approaches that use the notion of narcissism in a broader, metaphorical sense, however, have the potential to cast a new light on certain developments in culture.