Culture & Diagnosis (DP IB Psychology): Revision Note

Here is an example of a Paper 3 source and a 6-mark SAQ using culture (HL extension) in the Health & Wellbeing context:

Source 2

Aim:

• To investigate the extent to which Western-style counselling practices are appropriate for other cultures

Procedure: 

• A review of research on the topic which looked at four commonly used therapeutic approaches to the treatment of a range of mental illnesses such as MDD and phobias 

• The four different types of counselling therapies included in the review were:

  • Psychoanalytic therapy

  • Group therapy

  • Strength-based therapy

  • Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)

• The researchers were interested in investigating the provision of what they term ‘culturally competent services to Muslims’, i.e., they were looking for evidence of therapies that are most aligned to a Muslim outlook and cultural perspective and which are most congruent with Islamic values

 Results:  

• Two therapeutic treatments were identified by the researchers as problematic for Muslim clients:

  • Psychoanalytic approaches – the emphasis on individual introspection is at odds with the importance in Islamic culture of community

  • Rather than looking inwards to analyse themselves, Muslims tend to look outwards, grounding their identity in religious teachings, culture and family

  • Group therapy – some Muslims may feel uncomfortable sharing personal details or disclosures in a group setting, particularly if the group included both males and females who are not related

• Two forms of therapy were identified as being more suitable for treating Muslims:

  • Strength-based approach – in this approach, strengths are identified, derived from a client’s faith, family, culture and community; such values are more congruent with Islamic ideals

  • CBT – the underlying principles of CBT are congruent with Islamic values e.g. focusing on solutions and using a ‘here and now’ approach

• CBT, however, could be modified to substitute traditional self-statements (e.g. ‘I feel in control of my thoughts’) with statements linked to Muslims’ spiritual traditions

• This approach has been successful in Taoist, Christian and Muslim cultural settings, as it draws directly from articles of faith within that culture 

Conclusion:

• Adaptations and modifications to existing treatments such as CBT should help to align these treatments with the client’s values and to ensure that the treatment outcome is positive. 

Q2: Analyse the findings from source 2 and state a conclusion linked to the claim that Westernised therapy may have a negative effect on Muslim patients.

[6 marks]

Model answer

The findings are qualitative so analysis should focus on the insight they provide into cultural differences in therapy. A review analyses secondary data which may not be as reliable as primary data, i.e., the researchers had no control over how the data was collected, which could reduce the credibility of the findings.

The findings are a little generalised: the modifications suggested may not suit all Muslim clients; there are likely to be individual differences involved in the success of the suggested strategy as well as variations in Islamic beliefs so we should not consider all Muslims as homogenous. The recommendation to culturally adapt CBT is helpful as it acknowledges that therapy should be flexible and sensitive to cultural variation.

Guidance

• Your analysis should refer to the raw scores (if these are included) and/or the descriptive/inferential statistics presented in the findings

  • For descriptive stats this may comprise the mean/median/mode as measures of central tendency and the range/standard deviation as measures of dispersion

  • For inferential stats this may comprise a statement of significance and/or link to the level of probability used

• You should always state which condition of the IV performed better

• You should comment on what the stats seem to suggest about performance per condition

• If relevant, you should comment on what the data tells you about the population, e.g., is this a normal distribution or is it skewed?

• If the research is qualitative then you should focus on how the findings have been categorised/presented and whether there are drawbacks or limitations to how it has been gathered (e.g., sample size, potential bias)

• You should draw a conclusion based on what the data in the source/study tells you about what is being investigated

  • E.g., do the findings suggest that X does affect Y?