Cards (2)

    • Real-world application
      One strength of deviation from social norms is its usefulness:
      • It is used in clinical practice - e.g. diagnosing APD, schizotypal personality disorder
      • Therefore, deviation from social norms has value in psychiatry
    • Cultural and situational relativism
      One limitation of deviation from social norms is the variability between social norms in different cultures and situations:
      • Social norms are arbitrary and subjective; they change over time and between cultures e.g. homosexuality
      • E.g. hearing voices may be an important part of a culture, whereas other cultures may diagnose it as schizophrenia
      • Therefore it is difficult to judge deviation from social norms across different situations and cultures