Scenario
You have been requested, as a psychologist, to be part of the panel of a public enquiry following an NHS scandal pertaining to the prevalence of belief in conspiracy theories, extraordinary claims and misinformation in the NHS workforce.
It has come to light that several doctors and nurses have been let go from their posts due to their refusal to administer a new drug to treat meningitis to patients with the star sign Gemini. This is due to a misinformed belief that the medication will cause adverse effects to these individuals due to ‘Gemini’ being a partial anagram of ‘meningitis’. In addition, instead of prescribing medication, the doctors and nurses involved have been recommending homeopathic treatments and are demanding that they are reinstated in their roles on the grounds that they are entitled to their beliefs as a fundamental human right. The NHS, on the other hand, is concerned about patient safety.
Therefore, the panel is seeking guidance from you as a psychologist to do three things.
- In reference to appropriate psychological literature, you should discuss why people believe in conspiracy theories and extraordinary claims.
- You should discuss the impact of holding such beliefs.
- The panel wants you to explain precisely how the Swiss cheese model of accident causation could be applied to the situation, to explain the risks of conspiracy theories and extraordinary beliefs concerning public health.
This part of the assignment assesses your ability to think critically and apply your knowledge to the given scenario.
The report you are being asked to write applies to a context where there has been an NHS scandal due to conspiracy beliefs and extraordinary claims. The human systems part of the question is focused explicitly on the Swiss cheese model of accident causation; your task here is to use this material – and perhaps some of the other material on human error – to link conspiracy theories and human error and apply this to the health system as a whole – what implications do conspiracy theories have in this context?
Your report will need to be concise, focusing on the psychological theories underpinning why people believe in conspiracy theories and extraordinary claims, what the impact is of having such beliefs (e.g. for individuals and for wider society) and, finally, how the Swiss cheese model could be applied to the given situation, to explain the risk of believing in conspiracy theories and extraordinary beliefs in relation to public health. Be sure to link to the literature base to ensure that you incorporate psychological theory in your answer and use a roughly equal word count for each main section of your report. A final conclusion section should summarise the implications. Again, you will need to be concise.
It is appropriate to draw on material that you have found in your independent study time.
Relevent Materials:
- Chapter 12, Section 4.1, covers conspiracy theories and provides some examples of conspiracy theory beliefs in a health context that may be relevant here
- Chapter 14 – Humans in systems