Is there androcentric bias in psychiatric diagnosis?
Flaws, biases, and ethical problems surrounding research and diagnosis may lead to inappropriate or inequitable treatments that exacerbate or fail to improve the misery that some individuals face due to their psychiatric conditions. Possible androcentric biases in the choice and definition of categories for diagnosis available in DSM-III-R may in turn influence the approaches of therapists to clients, particularly male therapists towards female clients. Androcentric bias in diagnosis, which may also be reflected in the values of the psychiatrist, may lead to treatment regimens designed to make clients fit into roles, positions, and norms prescribed by a culture reflecting patriarchal values. Some acceptance of attempts by feminists to correct androcentrism are beginning to emerge in psychiatric diagnosis.
Rosser
S V
SV
Family and Preventive Medicine, University of South Carolina, Columbia 29208.
D004992:Ethics, Medical; D005783:Gender Identity; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D010686:Philosophy, Medical; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011209:Power, Psychological; D011613:Psychotherapy