Family-Social and Multicultural Perspectives in Abnormal Functioning

• The family-social and multicultural perspectives have added greatly to the understanding and treatment of abnormal functioning.
• Clinicians today take family, social, and cultural issues into account, factors that were overlooked just 35 years ago.
• In addition, clinicians have become more aware of the impact of clinical and social roles.
• The treatment formats offered by the sociocultural model sometimes succeed where traditional approaches have failed.
• However, the sociocultural model has certain problems, including its inability to predict abnormality in specific individuals.
• Most clinicians view the family-social and multicultural explanations as operating in conjunction with the biological or psychological explanations. They agree that family, social, and cultural factors may create a climate that is favorable to the development of certain disorders, but they believe that biological or psychological conditions—or both—must also be present for the disorders to evolve.

Explore the influence of family, social, and cultural factors on abnormal functioning and treatment. Understand the impact of the sociocultural model in addressing disorders, its limitations, and its relationship with biological and psychological explanations.