Psychology and More

In our Abnormal Psychology class, we were discussing the problems of diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders in children. Mind Hacks has a link to a very funny satirical paper on the etiology, diagnosis, and treatment of Childhood — that’s right — childhood.

Diagnosing and treating childhood (Link to the Mind Hacks article)

My favorite quotes:

Etiology:

A considerable number of psychologically-based theories of the development of childhood exist. They are too numerous to review here. Among the more familiar models are Seligman’s “learned childishness” model. According to this model, individuals who are treated like children eventually give up and become children. As a counterpoint to such theories, some experts have claimed that childhood does not really exist. Szasz (1980) has called “childhood” an expedient label. In seeking conformity, we handicap those whom we find unruly or too short to deal with by labelling them “children.”

Treatment:

The nineteenth century saw the institution of what remains the largest single program for the treatment of childhood — so-called “public schools.” Under this colossal program, individuals are placed into treatment groups based on the severity of their condition. For example, those most severely afflicted may be placed in a “kindergarten” program. Patients at this level are typically short, unruly, emotionally immature,and intellectually deficient. Given this type of individual, therapy is essentially one of patient management and of helping the child master basic skills (e.g. finger-painting). Unfortunately, the “school” system has been largely ineffective. Not only is the program a massive tax burden, but it has failed even to slow down the rising incidence of childhood.

Technorati Tags: abnormal psychology, psychology