JOURNAL OF ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY IN THE MEDIA

JOURNAL OF ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY IN THE MEDIA :

“The manner in which our society portrays mental disorder through the media has an impact on the attitudes of individuals. Television and the movies consistently use psychological labels to describe unfavorable and dangerous characters.  He written media likewise often use lurid descriptions of crimes, including psychological diagnoses and terms.”  (Prerost, 2000, p.12).

Often, these descriptions are biased and inaccurate, fueling the already negative stigma surrounding mental disorders. This assignment is designed to help you become aware of the sometimes subtle, and sometimes not-so-subtle messages the public receives regarding abnormal psychology and mental health.Gather evidence of the presentations of psychological disorders in the visual and print media. Do not only look to the newspaper or television news broadcasts. Publications as varied as Newsweek and The National Enquirer and the movie industry often report/portray psychological disorders. Oftentimes, there is much sensationalism which surrounds his type of reporting.

1. Document five instances of abnormal psychology in the media with the appropriate citations.

•             Briefly describe the story/article/movie, etc., and then write your response after each instance,using the following questions as prompts: 

1.            Are common psychological terms or labels used? 

2.            Are the discussions of the particular mental disorder accurate? 

3.            How is the individual suffering from the disorder portrayed? 

4.            Is thereevidence of stereotyping the individual? 

5.            Are any “experts” cited, quoted, or interviewed? If so, what are their qualifications?

Please organize your paper according to the following example:

Disorder/Abnormal concept identified:  Psychotic Behavior

Reference:  ABC News, 2/10/12, 10:00 News broadcast

While listening to the 10:00 news, I heard a story regarding the bizarre behavior of a young man outside a political rally.The man was shouting that “the aliens are coming, and we must all prepare for the massacre.” The news anchor stated

that obviously the man was suffering from multiple personality disorder, yet there was no psychology professional interview to substantiate the story. Obviously, this is a misnomer, since very rarely does someone with MPD (now named DID) become psychotic. Actually, the official diagnostic label would be Dissociative IdentityDisorder. The diagnosis was changed in the DSM in …….