---
abstract: 'Psychiatry?s generic concept of disorder has long served an important legitimizing function for the broad array of conditions for which individuals seek mental health treatment, regardless of their presumed causes. Wakefield?s proposal to restrict the mental disorder concept to only a subset of these conditions has given rise to concerns about the uncertain consequences of classifying others as non-disorders. In Bergner?s recent counterproposal, this concern is masked in the form of a conspicuously overinclusive definition of mental disorder. Bergner?s resistance to Wakefield?s classification objective underscores an important, unmet, and often unacknowledged need within the clinical treatment community. The challenge ahead lies in finding ways to address this need without compromising the integrity of efforts to develop a more coherent concept of mental disorder.'
altloc: []
chapter: ~
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creators_id: []
creators_name:
- family: Richters
given: John E.
honourific: ''
lineage: ''
- family: Hinshaw
given: ' Stephen P.'
honourific: ''
lineage: ''
date: 1997
date_type: published
datestamp: 2000-10-15
department: ~
dir: disk0/00/00/10/15
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editors_id: []
editors_name:
- family: Kazdin
given: Alan
honourific: ''
lineage: ''
eprint_status: archive
eprintid: 1015
fileinfo: /style/images/fileicons/application_pdf.png;/1015/3/s_Turbid_Solution.pdf
full_text_status: public
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keywords: 'Mental Disorder, Psychopathology, Dysfunction, DSM, Classification, Evolutionary Psychology'
lastmod: 2011-03-11 08:54:24
latitude: ~
longitude: ~
metadata_visibility: show
note: ~
number: ~
pagerange: 276-280
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publication: 'Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice'
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refereed: TRUE
referencetext: |-
American Psychiatric Association (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.,
rev.). Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Association
Bergner, R. M. (in press). What is psychopathology? And so what? Clinical Psychology: Science and
Practice.
Cicchetti, D. & Richters, J. E. (1993). Developmental considerations in the investigation of conduct
disorder. Development and Psychopathology, 5, 5-29.
Ludwig, A. M. (1975). Journal of the American Medical Association, 234, 603.
Ossario, P. (1985). Pathology. In K. Davis & T. Mitchell (eds.), Advances in descriptive psychology.
(Vol. 4, pp. 151-202). Greenwich, Conn.: JAP Press.
Richters, J. E., & Cicchetti, D. (1993a). Editorial: Toward a developmental perspective on conduct
disorder. Development and Psychopathology, 5, 1-4.
Richters, J. E. & Cicchetti, D. (1993b). Mark Twain meets DSM-III-R: Conduct disorder, development,
and the concept of harmful dysfunction. Development and Psychopathology, 5, 5-29.
Szasz, T. S. (1960). The myth of mental illness: Foundations of a theory of personal conduct. New York:
Harper & Row.
Wakefield, J. C. (1992a). Disorder as harmful dysfunction: A conceptual critique of DSM-III-R's
definition of mental disorder. Psychological Review, 99, 232-247.
Wakefield, J. C. (1992b). The concept of mental disorder: On the boundary between biological facts and
social values. American Psychologist, 47, 373-388.
Zubin, J. (1978). But is it good for science? Clinical Psychologist, 31, 1-7.
relation_type: []
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reportno: ~
rev_number: 12
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source: ~
status_changed: 2007-09-12 16:36:01
subjects:
- clin-psy
- evol-psy
succeeds: ~
suggestions: ~
sword_depositor: ~
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title: Psychiatry's Turbid Solution
type: journalp
userid: 868
volume: 4