The Journal of Sociology & Social WelfareVolume 30Issue 3 SeptemberArticle 8July 2015The Social Problem of Depression: A Multi-theoretical AnalysisRich FurmanColorado State UniversityKimberly BenderColorado State UniversityFollow this and additional works at: http://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jsswPart of the Clinical and Medical Social Work Commons, and the Social Work CommonsThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Social Work atScholarWorks at WMU. For more information, please [email protected] CitationFurman, Rich and Bender, Kimberly (2015) "The Social Problem of Depression: A Multi-theoretical Analysis," The Journal of Sociology& Social Welfare: Vol. 30: Iss. 3, Article 8.Available at: http://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jssw/vol30/iss3/8The Social Problem of Depression:A Multi-theoretical AnalysisRICH FURMANKIMBERLY BENDERColorado State UniversitySchool of Social WorkThe purpose of this paper is to discuss the social problem of depression from amulti-theoretical perspective. It explores depression through the lens of twopsychologically based theories of human behavior, existential theory andcognitive theory, as well as through the vehicle of two sociological theories,Marxist theory and the theory of oppression. By understanding how eachof these theories explains depression, social workers may be helped to see thecomplexity of treating the problem. It is the belief of the authors that socialwork literature, which is often dominated by reductionist, quantitatively-based research studies, has increasingly ignored theoretical explorations ofkey social problems such as depression, to the determent of the professionand the disciplines which inform it.IntroductionThe purpose of this paper is to discuss the social problem ofdepression from a multi-theoretical. This work has been under-taken for several reasons. First, each of the four theories presentedin this article form a piece of the puzzle for understanding de-pression as a psychosocial phenomenon. By understanding howeach of these theories explains depression, social workers maybe helped to see the complexity of treating the problem. Second,the increasing hegemony of psychiatry and privatization in theUnited States, through the vehicle of managed care, has led to themedicalization of many problems that often have psychosocialetiologies. Thus, other explanations to depression have receivedlittle recent interest or articulation. Third, it is the belief of theseJournal of Sociology and Social Welfare, September, 2003, Volume XXX, Number 3124 Journal of Sociology & Social Welfareauthors that social work literature, which is often dominated byreductionist, quantitatively- based research studies, has increas-ingly ignored theoretical explorations of key social problems. Thisis lamentable, as theoretical scholarship has had an importantplace in the building of a social work knowledge base.The problem of depressionDepression is so prevalent that it has been referred to asthe "common cold" of mental illness (Turnbull, 1991). However,unlike the common cold, depression can be fatal, and has beenreferred to as the world's number one public health problem(Burns, 1980). Social awareness and concern regarding depressioncan be evidenced by the proliferation of self-help books writtenon the subject over the past decade (Carrigan, 1997; Greenberger& Padesky, 1995; Larsen, 1989; Katzenstein, 1998; Kramer, 1993;Rosen & Amador, 1996). Since depression is so prevalent, all socialworkers, regardless of their practice setting and specialization,must be familiar with various aspects of the syndrome.Depression has been a social problem throughout history.The biblical tale of King Saul, and Homer's suicidal characterof Ajax depict examples of major depressive disorders (Kaplan &Sadock, 1998). Depression is seen throughout history in literaryand medical arenas (Goodwin & Guze, 1996).Freud's conception of depression prevailed for the first halfof the twentieth century. While the psychoanalytic view of de-pression is far more complex and detailed than can be presentedhere, the perspective stresses unresolved conflicts from the past,locked away in the unconscious, as the main determinant of thedisorder. Social workers working from this perspective, the diag-nostic school, sought to treat depression by helping their clientsuncover and resolve repressed conflicts.The work of Jesse Taft (1933) and the functional school ofsocial work represented a major shift in how depressive moodsand other emotional experiences were seen. Taft and the func-tionalists rejected the notion that emotional problems were theresult of unresolved conflicts and intrapsychic pathology. ForTaft (1939), emotions were to be accepted and experienced, notchanged or blunted. In Taft's conception of maturity and health,the highly functioning individual is able to tolerate a high degreeThe Social Problem of Depression 125of emotion without reactivity, without the need to "act them out."Ideally, emotions are to be tolerated and processed through ourconsciousness prior to any action.Challenging the dominance of the diagnostic and the func-tional schools in the interpretation of depression was the devel-oping medical model. With the advent of modern psychiatricmedication, depression began to be seen as a medical disease.Today, the medical model stands as the dominant model forunderstanding and treating depression. Psychopharmacologicaldevelopments, through the study of antidepressant medicationsand their effects on depressive symptoms, have supported thebiomedical view of depression and other mental disorders. Med-ical research has sought to demonstrate that depression is causedby fluctuations in levels of neurotransmitters, which lead to thesubjective experience of depression. The medical model seeks toincrease levels of these neurotransmitters in an effort to decreasedepressive mood. (Kaplan & Sadock, 1998).For the general United States population, Boyd and Weissman(1983) report that at some point in their lives, 8-12 percent of menand 20-24 percent of women will meet the diagnostic criteria formajor depression. Prevalence of depression varies greatly withinthe population however. Egeland & Hostetter (1993) found theincidence for all types of depression within the Amish communityto be less than I percent. This variance across populations pointsto the importance of social and cultural influences in the definitionand expression of depression.Kaelber, Moul