the mind is an unnecessary concept and so therefore there is no such thing as
mental disorders or mental illnesses, only abnormal behaviours. Also if
abnormal behaviours are learned, then they can be unlearned and it is this
idea that underpins behavioural treatments.
Behaviourism is very good at explaining disorders that do have an
environmental component, for instance a lot of phobias are learned through
experience. However, there are also a lot of mental conditions, such as
schizophrenia, which cannot be explained in this way. Thoughts and emotions
have been shown to be involved in a lot of mental disorders and yet
behaviourism doesn’t even acknowledge their existence; therefore it is a
somewhat impoverished view of abnormality.
The behavioural approach can be seen in a positive light, as it doesn’t label
people as ‘ill’ which can be very damaging and long lasting to a person. The
approach however only addresses the symptoms of abnormal behaviour rather
than the actual causes, so again it can be seen as an impoverished view of
abnormality. This causes problems for treatments too, as if only symptoms are
addressed, then the positive effects gained by such behavioural treatments often
prove to be short lasting. For example releasing an anorexic from hospital after
she has gained weight through a regime of positive reinforcement may seem
like a cure, but if the causes of why the anorexic was ill in the first place haven’t
been addressed, then there is a good chance they will become under weight
again.
There are many strengths and weaknesses of the behavioural approach. One strength of the behavioural approach is that it’s a scientific approach – it has clear testable concepts, which have been supported in many experiments.
However, the limitation of the behavioural approach is that it cannot explain all behaviours because it neglects:
- The influence of genetics and biology – for example, how brain functioning affects behaviour.
- The influence of cognitions – how thought processes contribute to disorders.
Another strength of the approach is that the behavioural therapies can be very effective for treating phobias, eating disorders, obsessions and compulsions.
Moreover, the weakness of the approach is that the behavioural therapies are not effective for all disorders, e.g. conditioning doesn’t cure schizophrenia.