Forensic psychology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Forensic psychology - Essay Example nding this early stress can be highly useful in providing insights into the treatment and pathophysiology of depression and other forms of abnormal psychology. According to Durand and Barlow (2005) psychosocial factors that affect the brain function and structure include social learning in both the conditioning and cognitive processes. These processes normally affect implicit memory as well as blind sight. This means that an individual may develop mental disorders due to the kind of psychosocial experiences that he has been through. What this means for future research is that researchers have to look into prior experiences that an individual has been through before making any diagnostic conclusions (Kaufman, et. al, 2000). Researchers have to put into considerations the differences in each case before making decisions. This might help in curbing he stigma associated with mental illness labeling. The categorical approach is based on the idea that an individual is or is not a member of a specific discrete grouping. This approach assumes that all levels of human behavior are divided into normal and pathological categories. It also assumes that these behavioral classes discrete, homogeneous and non-overlapping. In this approach, the diagnosis is normally a yes or no decision. The main advantage of this approach is its effectiveness in research and understanding. A disadvantage of this approach is its clear use of inclusion and exclusion standards. In this approach, a person either has a disorder or he does not (Brown and Barlow, 2005). The dimensional approach classifies an individual’s behavior according to specific dimensions. According to Krueger, Skodol and Livesley (2006), many professional working in the personality disorders field are increasingly turning to the dimensional approach in developing diagnostic schemes for mental disorders. One of the advantages of this approach is its effectiveness in predicting functional impairment as compared to other