Introduction

Adult Psychopathology, Second Edition
by Francis J. Turner, Ph.D.

When Adult Psychopathology: A Social Work Perspective was first published in 1984, this pioneering text was the first to conceptualize and organize theory and practice about the treatment of the mentally ill within their families and communities from a social work perspective. Now, in response to new developments in theory and research, as well as changes in service delivery within the field, the second edition contains updated and accessible information on how mental illnesses develop and how they can be treated within a social work framework that recognizes the importance of family, economics, and culture as well as biochemical and psychodynamic factors. Each chapter is written by the leading social work authority on that subject and includes practical, in-depth discussion of state-of-the-art technologies, treatments, and research. The book encompasses the broad spectrum of topics that social workers need to understand, including personality, adjustment, schizophrenia, suicide, anxiety states, phobias, neurological disorders, psychosexual disorders, drug and alcohol addiction, eating disorders, and others. Adult Psychopathology, Second Edition is essential for both M.S.W. and Ph.D. social work students and, as the authoritative, unequaled reference book, will aid clinicians in making more precise diagnoses in their daily work.

Chapter 1

The term psychiatric social work, a term once highly status laden, is now rarely seen or heard in the profession's lexicon. In its heyday the concept was seen as denoting some form of higher-level position and practice than "just" social work. This attitude prevailed partially because social workers with this designation appeared to have a close connection to other human-service colleagues in the mental health field, a connection that was thought to give some degree of status. The designation also implied possession of a specialized body of knowledge relating to the then identified types and forms of mental illness. These two factors in combination were seen as putting the title and those possessing it above colleagues without it. This term was prevalent at a time when in most countries there was in fact a very clear division between general social work practice and that encompassed by the term mental health services. This segregation of services, only one of many that existed, further added to the perception of a differential role in the profession.

In practice this identification of social work in the mental health field as a separate specialty was never as definitive as the terminology indicated and in recent years has blurred. Experienced social work practitioners in all direct service roles understood all too well that over a period of time, regardless of practice setting, one met the entire gamut of human psychopathology. Hence knowledge about it and skills in responding to it were necessary for all practitioners. As well, even if one did not meet such clients on a face-to-face basis, it has always been necessary that social workers understand these patterns of problematic mental functioning to ensure that policies and services meet the specific needs of clients.

Thankfully the blurring of this artificial division of the profession has continued at a rapid pace, facilitated by changed community attitudes, great advances in pharmacology, and of course the broad impact of deinstitutionalization. These factors have both increased the nature of social workers' involvement with the mentally ill and, as well, expanded the extent of this involvement. Today all social workers are in reality in the mental health field and all must have an enriched knowledge of psychopathology. Hence the need for volumes such as this.

As with the first edition, this volume starts from the premise that accurate diagnosis is the essence of contemporary, skilled, and responsible social work practice. This statement immediately opens up another question of terminology. If one uses as a reference point most of the current social work practice texts in North America, the current "politically correct" position appears to be that diagnosis is itself a somewhat pejorative term and thus one to be avoided. This for a long list of supposed negative connotations of the concept. Instead the term assessment is to be substituted. Here is not the place to continue this debate, apart from stating my own position. It is my strong conviction that we underserve our clients, weaken our relationship with our coprofessionals, and avoid the discipline inherent in the term diagnosis if we fail to include it in our conceptual purview and professional vocabulary.

As I have studied this issue I remain increasingly convinced that for a variety of sociological, political, historical and turf issues we have "misdiagnosed" what is meant by diagnosis, made it a scapegoat onto which we have loaded all the failings of the misuse of labels and categories, and attempted to drive it out of our practice lexicon. But for me, and clearly for my fellow contributors to this volume, and to an ever increasing number of senior colleagues, it is still a critical term that needs to stand, as it once was, at the heart of our clinical responsibility.

This discussion, as with many that need to take place around the misuse of designated categories of behavior, relates of course to the question of "labeling." Thankfully, the antilabeling movement, itself a label, seems to have greatly diminished in intensity in professional circles since the first edition. To a welcomed increasing extent, we have come to understand that our concern about labels is correctly one about their misuse; we can, if not most careful, make them all-inclusive, overgeneralized, depersonalized, and disempowering.

But we need a precise vocabulary. We cannot practice without an accepted terminology to convey large bodies of essential information to each other about individuals and groups by means of a single word, phrase or sentence. However, all of us who have practiced have seen how destructive and limiting can be the misuse of such labels and hence the awesome responsibility to use them carefully. We need to ensure they work for us and not we for them.

Clearly the basic structure of this volume is built on a commitment to the skilled and effective use of a common nomenclature within and between human-service professions. This presumes that over the centuries we have learned much about the myriad ways in which the human person can develop patterns of behavior that reflect some internal dysfunction of the mental apparatus, or some responses to complex interpersonal or societal realities that also cause dysfunctions or intensify the internal condition. As well, we have learned much about the complex ways in which the biopsychosocial spheres are interconnected. (It is hoped that we soon can add to this multifaceted understanding the spiritual dimensions of human existence as well.)

We have learned that these responses are not random; they can be understood and classified and in so doing, to an increasing extent, they can be managed and modified in a manner that brings comfort and enhanced autonomy and empowerment to persons.

But to make use of this accumulated wisdom we need to understand the degree of precision or lack thereof that we possess in each category and the extent to which we, as a profession on our own or in conjoint activity with other professions, have or lack strategies of intervention that can assist in particular ways. We, especially social workers, also need to understand the extent to which many of our perceptions of, and responses to, various patterns of behavior can often reflect more of society's views and attitudes to them than signs of internal suffering or dysfunction. In a related way we need to be aware that differential perceptions of and reactions to similar behaviors exist in different cultures. This latter becomes of increasing importance in the highly culturally diverse practice context of many parts of the world.

Certainly as our knowledge expands so too does our awareness of the need to alter vocabulary through deletions, additions, regrouping, or modifications of categories. The fact that our vocabulary changes, at times rapidly, is a humbling declaration to each other, and to the world, that our knowledge is far from perfect, that our categories do not — and must not — stand as unchangeable, that today's apparent convictions must be ready to yield to new insights and understandings. We also know that a term that today is viewed as useful and neutral can later become loaded with socially generated negative connotations and thus be more harm producing than helpful. But the process of knowledge development only takes place through the proper use of categorizations based upon a commitment to precision in the development of concepts which in turn are subject to empirical reification.

Hence this process of knowledge building must be carried on in a manner that keeps constantly before us the risks and potential harm of the misuse of the vocabulary by which we communicate with each other. An especially relevant facet of this discussion relates to the title of this book, Adult Psychopathology. To date no one has challenged me on the use of the label "Adult," but it had been suggested that the label "Psychopathology" is no longer acceptable. Indeed one of the participants suggested that combining the subtitle Social Work with the title Psychopathology was an "oxymoron." Psychopathology for him is a medical term only. Obviously we disagree, but these different perceptions about appropriate vocabulary remind us that we need be very sensitive to terminology and how it is differentially used and perceived both within our profession and by other professions.

It is my position that no profession owns any words or labels. It is how we understand, interpret, and make use of such words in our practice that creates differences between disciplines. Hence for some the word psychopathology is to be eschewed. It is viewed by such persons as being out of date, overmedicalized, and reflecting a too narrow view of mental disorders. Whether in a future edition we may change the title remains to be seen. I think not!

However as with the term diagnosis, I view the word psychopathology as a most useful term that stands clearly as one of the anchoring points on the health nonhealth continuum. If we accept that "healthy" is a legitimate concept, a much-to-be-sought-after state of existence for all of us, then we need to have a term that conveys states of nonhealth, or less health, which is exactly what the term psychopathology does.

Copyright © 1984 by The Free Press
Copyright © 1999 by Francis J. Turner

About the Author

Francis J. Turner, Ph.D., is Professor Emeritus at Wilfrid Laurier University in Toronto. He is the editor of several Free Press books, including Social Work Treatment, Fourth Edition, and Differential Diagnosis and Treatment in Social Work. He is also Editor in Chief of International Social Work. He lives in Toronto, Ontario.