ERIC Number: EJ741732
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2006
Pages: 2
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0003-066X
EISSN: N/A
Treating "the Poor"--Classism or a Rigid Loyalty to Theory?: Comment
Aronson, Harriet
American Psychologist, v61 n4 p335-336 May-Jun 2006
Comments on "Psychotherapy, classism, and the poor: Conspicuous by their absence" by Laura Smith (see record 2005-11834-002). Smith suggested that social psychology theories might explain how a negative attitude toward the poor has reduced the interest of practitioners in poor patients. The current author was impressed by Smith's comments when she left the literature and began to describe her own experiences. However, the current author was not convinced that social psychology and the varieties of classism explain the phenomenon described. The current author believes that many practitioners avoid the poor because they do not enjoy failure. In this comment, the author discusses personal experiences that support this position. It does not elaborate a history of either a dislike of or class avoidance of the poor. Instead, it suggests that psychologists are trained to overgeneralize findings and to look down on less rigorously collected findings and observations. Thus, psychologists overlook information that might allow theories to be further formulated in more accurate and generalizable forms.
Descriptors: Economically Disadvantaged, Social Psychology, Negative Attitudes, Psychologists, Psychotherapy, Personal Narratives, Physician Patient Relationship, Reader Response, Misconceptions
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Opinion Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A