The Name Game? The Politics of Professional Diagnosis

Review of the book, “Bias in Psychiatric Diagnosis” (2004; see record 2004-19680-000) edited by Paula J. Caplan and Lisa Cosgrove. The volume is an ambitious attempt to address the systematic effort on the part of mental health professionals to mainstream the issues related to bias in psychiatric diagnosis into professional training and education programs. This collection of 32 essays covers a broad array of topics and attempts to define the range of problems associated with diagnostic bias as well as identify at least some means by which they can be rectified. Chapters addressed specific issues in psychiatric bias related to race, ethnicity, aging, the legal system, socioeconomic status, and other areas. The book is organized into five parts, including an introductory section that establishes the parameters of the problem and separate sections related to legal issues, common forms that bias can take, problems with specific diagnoses and labels, and a final dialogue about potential ways to address these issues. The book concludes with several chapters that suggest possible solutions for dealing with at least some of the problems associated with diagnostic bias. Although it is clear that any human endeavor can never be totally free from bias, the use of bad tools virtually guarantees that it will be endemic. This book effectively drives home the point that the profession has a responsibility to meet this challenge. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)