THE COMMON CRITICISMS OF PSYCHOLOGY PAPER

The Common Criticisms of Psychology Paper

The Common Criticisms of Psychology Paper

Criticisms of Psychology

Critical psychology applies the methodology of critical theory to psychology. Accordingly, it seeks to identify the supportive roles that psychology and psychologists play, often unwittingly, in oppressive ideologies, and it strives to replace these roles with ones that can transform oppressive social structures. Critical psychology operates on the belief "that mainstream psychology has institutionalized a narrow view of the field's ethical mandate to promote human welfare", and critical psychology endeavors to broaden the view of that mandate.

A critical psychologist might ask whether a case of "work stress" warrants efforts to change the macro-level systems that control the work, rather than to treat in isolation those individuals who experience the stress. One might also ask why "mainstream trauma efforts fail to incorporate a focus on human rights and social justice" in war-ravaged communities. In short, critical psychology seeks, where it deems appropriate, to raise psychology's level of analysis from the individual to society, and to render psychology more foundationally transformative than superficially ameliorative. Critical psychology has been applied to a wide array of psychology's other subfields, and many of its theorists are employed in mainstream psychological professions. (David 2008)

Criticism of Artificiality

A hitherto neglected argument is set out below alleging that artificiality poses a problem that deserves attention. The problem is not that which has already been discussed in the small extant literature, that laboratory settings may introduce or omit various influences. It is rather that they implement different phenomena to those targeted for investigation.

Psychology, the science of behavior and mental processes, has its roots in many disciplines and countries. Psychology's important issues include the relative contributions of biology and experience. Although the different perspectives on human nature have their own purposes and questions, they are complementary and together provide a fuller understanding of mind and behavior. Some psychologists conduct basic or applied research; others provide professional services, including assessing and treating troubled people. With its perspectives ranging from the biological to the social, and settings from the clinic to the laboratory, psychology has become a meeting place for many disciplines.

The popular scientific literature of today often asserts dogmatically the belief that the investigation of the normal precedes that of the abnormal. (Cooke 2003) This belief is erroneous and is only given credence to by people who had not thought much on the subject, and especially by those who belong to the so-called "new psychology" school. As a matter of fact the abnormal in scientific research precedes that, of the normal. The investigation of the abnormal is one of the most potent instruments for new discoveries. The method of experimentation, the most powerful tool of modern science, is in fact the creation of artificial conditions, in other words, the effecting of abnormal states. Where the compound is highly complex, where the constituent factors and their relations are imperfectly or all but unknown and are not therefore under control, the spontaneous occurrence of some anomaly ought to ...