School of thought Essay Example

School of thought Essay Example School of thought Essay School of thought Essay Today’s psychologists can choose to view psychological phenomena from many various viewpoints, including biological perspective, learning perspective, cognitive perspective, sociocultural perspective, and the psychodynamic perspective. All of them can be utilised to make a contribution to the understanding of psychological phenomena, but the most relevant seems to be the sociocultural perspective. Unlike others, it accounts for a complex interplay of various factors rather than focus narrowly on one area. This perspective concentrates on â€Å"the social contexts that influence out behavior and mental processes, including such factors as gender, ethnic group, and social class† (â€Å"Psychology Today†, 2005). These factors define a lot in human lives in today’s world. Globalisation often causes cultural clashes, bringing issues related to ethnicity and culture closer to the surface. In my view, the role of sociacultural factors in shaping the psychological processes in the contemporary world has yet to be appreciated in full through scholarly research. In the meantime, I believe the application of this perspective would be highly useful for a practising counsellor. Today, social change happens at a much quicker rate than before, and social changes have a proved influence on the state of mind of the population.   Thus, scholars have arrived at the conclusion that â€Å"the incidence of mental illness rises in times of high unemployment† (MSN Encarta). For this reason I would believe the application of this perspective most useful for determination of complex psychological processes triggered by drastic changes in the surroundings, such as decreasing job security, shrinking of the middle class, shift in gender roles. The impact of society on the individual remains significant, and the psychologist needs to account for this impact. Refugees fleeing from zones of conflict, recently laid-off workers, expatriate executives having to function in totally new environments – all these people are affected by different sociocultural factors that are highly relevant to the study of their personalities. References Mental Illness. MSN Encarta. Retrieved October 12, 2005 from http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761566888_7/Mental_Illness.html. Psychology Today. (2005, February 13). Retrieved October 12, 2005 from everything2.com/index.pl?node=Psychology.