Assignment: Definitions of Psychopathology

Assignment: Definitions of Psychopathology

Assignment: Definitions of Psychopathology

Definitions of Psychopathology

Read the Discussion Participation Scoring Guide to learn how the instructor will evaluate your discussion participation throughout this course.

The unit readings present several definitions of mental disorder and describe the ways in which concepts of abnormality have changed over time. For this discussion, address the following, using headings to match content in each bullet point:

• What criteria would you use to evaluate whether a person’s behavior is normal or abnormal? Discuss both individual and systemic perspectives.
• Explain how your own values and personal beliefs will impact the way you view some of the client’s behaviors, thoughts, or emotions as normal or abnormal. Use examples to illustrate your ideas.

Support your ideas with references to the course texts, articles from this learning unit, articles from the Optional Readings, or articles from peer-reviewed journals that you locate in the Capella University Library.

Response Guidelines

Respond to the discussion post of one other learner. What reactions do you have to the ideas the learner has presented? Include examples from your own experience to support your perspective, and raise questions to continue the dialogue.

Learning Components

This activity will help you achieve the following learning components:

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• Identify the primary models of psychopathology.
• Identify how cultural differences are relevant to diagnosis.
• Explore how a systemic view impacts the assessment process.
• Use language appropriate for a counseling professional.
• Cite and reference resources, giving appropriate credit for another’s work.

Resources

• Discussion Participation Scoring Guide.
• Masters in Counseling – Research Guide.
• Capella University Library.
• APA Style and Format.
• How Do I Find Peer-Reviewed Articles?.

 

You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.

Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.

Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.

The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.