A03 - DIMH

• Strength = positive and holistic approach

  • Jahoda’s ideas align with ‘positive psychology’ movement
  • focuses on display of ideal behaviours and traits rather than what is undesirable
  • definition is holistic measure of abnormality as considers all facets and behaviours of a person and emphasises whole individual rather than their constituent parts
  • person’s place in the world, their lifestyle and their individuality are all valuable components of this measure
• Limitation = cultural relativism

  • would be culturally biased as set of ideals put forth by Jahoda are based on western ideals of what ideal health looks like
  • may provide incorrect diagnosis if used to judge behaviour of people from different cultures
  • e.g. goal of self-actualisation and personal autonomy is relevant to members of individualist cultures only
  • if applied to collectivist cultures we would be likely to find a higher incidence of abnormality
• Limitation = unrealistic criteria

  • criteria for being classed as normal are over-demanding and unrealistic
  • vast majority of people are likely to deviate from ‘ideal mental health‘ at many points in life
  • therefore by Jahoda’s standards most people would be classed as abnormal as they fail to achieve these requirements simultaneously
• What are the strengths of deviation from ideal mental health?

  1. Positive and holistic approach
• What are the limitations of deviation from ideal mental health?

  1. Cultural relativism
  2. Unrealistic criteria