To what extent do sociocultural factors influence abnormal behaviour?

Refer to the paper 2 assessment criteria when awarding marks.

The command term “to what extent” requires candidates to consider the contributions of sociocultural factors influencing abnormal behaviour.

Candidates could choose to provide a general response on the extent to which sociocultural factors influence abnormal behaviour or they could provide a response discussing the extent to which sociocultural factors influence one specific disorder.

Discussion may include, but is not limited to, the relevance of sociocultural factors for etiology, diagnosis and treatment.

Sociocultural factors may include, but are not limited to:

• sociocultural stressors
• media influences
• cross-cultural differences influencing body dissatisfaction
• the link between poverty and mood disorders
• differences in socialization which may produce different symptoms in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Relevant research may include but is not limited to:

• Zhang’s (1998) study of mood disorders in China
• Jacobs’ (1998) investigation of Indian women in Great Britain
• Kleinman’s (1982) study of neurasthenia in China
• Jenkins-Hall and Sacco’s (1991) study of ethnicity bias in diagnosis.

It is appropriate and useful for candidates to address other factors (including biological and/or cognitive factors) in order to respond to the command term “to what extent”. Higher quality responses will probably argue that for most psychological disorders, the onset and development of the disorder is a result of complex interactions between biological, cognitive and/or sociocultural factors.

Candidates may consider a smaller number of sociocultural factors in order to demonstrate depth of knowledge, or may consider a larger number of cognitive or sociocultural factors in order to demonstrate breadth of knowledge. Both approaches are equally acceptable.