An Example of a Radical Perspective -
One example of research that can be interpreted many ways, least of which by the radical perspective is the current diagnosis of O.D.D. (Oppositional Defiant Disorder). This diagnosis is a subject of debate that stems mostly from the operational definition of the subjective term “defiant”. Clinical psychologist Bruce Levine writes, “In 1980 the American Psychiatric Association (APA), in step with the election of Ronald Reagan and the U.S. right-wing shift, proclaimed a new mental illness: oppositional defiant disorder (ODD). Today ODD has become an increasingly popular diagnosis for a young person who “actively defies or refuses to comply with adult requests or rules” and “argues with adults” – symptoms according to the DSM IV, the APA’s official diagnostic manual (Levine, 2005).” The undertones of what Levine is describing, the mention of Reagan, I believe indicates that he believes that the field of social services, counseling etc. performs a function aligned with status-quo ideals rather than challenges them. Levine goes on to explain that “[y]oung people often ask me why psychiatrists and psychologists don’t understand that it is normal for kids to rebel against being controlled. The answer, I believe, is that many psychiatrists and psychologists are not in touch with how extremely obedient they are. Acceptance into graduate school requires lots of As and jumping through many hoops, all of which require much behavioral and attentional compliance. When compliant PhDs, begin seeing non-compliant patients, many of these doctors get uptight. (Levine, 2005). I would argue that there are significant “use of self” issues to examine if one agrees with Levine’s hypothesis. How could it be otherwise? Admittedly, many people diagnosed with O.D.D. are in fact anti-social far more than Levine claims. However, he cites the first 50 pages of the famous anarchist Emma Goldman’s 993 page Living My Life as homework he assigns his clients (within a psycho-educational framework presumably). “I am happy to report that Living My Life provided instant self-help for one middle-aged, female client of mine, an anti-authoritarian previously diagnosed with substance abuse, depression, and several personality disorders. She has a passion now for reading and forgoes booze when captivated by a good book, Goldman’s epic provided a longer detox treatment that that provided by many insurance companies. She had a cause and a community, and she has become energized by her search (Ibid.). The radical perspective, I would argue, is the skill and knowledge that Bruce Levine possessed and then empowered his client with. The spiritual transformation that Levine had gone through, the education on such matters as radical social work practice, the application, is what he claims empowered his client.
“The radical view leads to an analysis of the class origins and class functions of social work. The conservative or traditional view does not acknowledge or minimizes the role and impact of class struggle and leads to a perspective which sees social work as a manifestation of society’s growing concern for human welfare (Galper, 1980).” This problematic revelation also indicates as Langan and Lee (1989) claim that “In the 1980s, mirroring the fragmentation of the political left, the radical social work movement lost its class focus and embraced other factors such as sexuality, race and gender as areas where oppression occurred, either in association with, or irrespective of social class.” This viewpoint is accurate. The historical record shows that this metamorphosis engulfed all of the movements of the time, new movements arose phoenix-like from the ashes of the Civil Rights Movement and the Anti-war movement to other issues, possibly from the apparent negative prospects for radical change, possibly from the weight of the burden of true radical social change.
