Lecture
Descriptive-Phenomenological Paradigm
The descriptive-phenomenological paradigm of clinical-psychological research does not adhere to a strict distinction between normal and disturbed mental activity (or behavior). Here, the patient's holistic subjective experiences and his own interpretations of his condition are of essential significance for diagnosis.
Phenomenologically oriented clinical-psychological research relies on four basic principles:
the principle of understanding,
the principle of suspension of judgment,
the principle of impartiality and precision of description,
the principle of contextuality.
The principle of understanding involves analyzing the subjective meaning that the patient attaches to particular phenomena that seem strange or abnormal to us. After all, one and the same external phenomenon, after an act of understanding, may be labeled autism or introversion; ambivalence or indecisiveness; ratiocination or demagoguery.
The principle of suspension of judgment implies that one must abstract from syndromal thinking and not attempt to fit observed phenomena into nosological frameworks.
The principle of impartiality and precision of description consists in the requirement to exclude any subjective interpretations of the patient's condition on the diagnostician's part that stem from his own life experience, moral attitudes, and other evaluative categories. It also requires careful selection of words to describe the patient's condition.
+The principle of contextuality implies that a phenomenon does not exist in isolation but is part of a person's overall perception and understanding of the surrounding world and of himself. Contextuality makes it possible to determine the place, the appropriateness to the circumstances, and the degree of the patient's awareness of a given mental phenomenon.
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