deviation from social norms

• deviation from social norms definition

  a person's thinking or behaviour is classified as abnormal if it violates the (unwritten) rules about what is expected or acceptable behaviour in a particular social group

  their behaviour may:

  • be incomprehensible to others
  • make others feel threatened or uncomfortable
• it is necessary to consider:

  • the degree to which a norm is violated, the importance of that norm and the value attached by the social group to different sorts of violation.
  • eg. is the violation rude, eccentric, abnormal or criminal?
• further evaluation


  attempts to apply social norms definitions across cultures may be ethnocentric - a bias to the West

  eg. hearing voices is accepted in some cultures, but is also a symptom of schizophrenia
• common culture-bound syndromes


  syndrome: brain fag

  region affected: west africa

  description: symptoms include difficulties in concentrating, remembering and thinking

  syndrome: mal de ojo (evil eye)

  region affected: spain and latin america

  description: a common idiom to describe disease, misfortune and social disruption