ABSTRACT
A textbook about a topic should begin with a clear de nition of that topic. Unfortunately, for a textbook on psychopathology, this is a di cult, if not impossible, task. e de nitions or conceptions of psychopathology and such related terms as mental disorder have been the subject of heated debate throughout the history of psychology and psychiatry, and the debate is not over (Gorenstein, 1984; Horwitz, 2002; Widiger, 1997, this volume). Despite its many variations, this debate has centered on a single overriding question: Are psychopathology and related terms such as mental disorder and mental illness scienti c terms that can be de ned objectively and by scienti c criteria, or are they social constructions (Gergen, 1985) that are de ned largely or entirely by societal and cultural values? e goal of this chapter is to address this issue. Addressing this issue in this opening chapter is important because the reader’s view of everything else in the rest of this book will be in uenced by his or her view on this issue.
