{"product_id":"on-the-social-utility-of-psychopathology","title":"On the Social Utility of Psychopathology","description":"\u003cp\u003eNathaniel Pallone argues that, whatever else is true of psycho-pathology, it serves purposes which are socially useful. What­ever else is true of its clinical treatment, such treatment func­tions as a form of social regula­tion. In societal terms, such treat­ment may serve purposes quite other than the relief of psycho­logical disease or even the remedy of psychological disorder. If psychopathology had not emerged naturally, society might have needed to engender psychopathogenic conditions both to fulfill so­cially useful purposes and to elicit that subtle mechanism for social regulation we term \"psychother­apy.\" Pallone constructs his ar­gument by summing up the evi­dence for two points which apply to all psychotherapeutic practice: that the relief of psychopathology is in no dependable way associ­ated with psychotherapeutic treatment; and that in all schools of psychotherapy, the only clear-cut criterion for terminating treatment is the limit of the pa­tient's financial resources.What surprised me in this manu­script is the stark simplicity with which Pallone constructs his ar­gument [that] society acquires the license to create unlimited [psy­chological] disease, to define this disease as intolerable, to finance armies of disease alleviators providing 'treatments' that are in even more profound contradic­tion with each other than were the religions of old.... The illustra­tion[s] make Pallone's argument crystal clear. - Ivan Illich, from the Preface\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Taylor \u0026 Francis","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45542906331374,"sku":"9780887380488","price":143.2,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0630\/9612\/7726\/files\/9780887380488.jpg?v=1725349476","url":"https:\/\/bookland.com.au\/products\/on-the-social-utility-of-psychopathology","provider":"Book Land AU","version":"1.0","type":"link"}