definitions of abnormality

• Four key definitions:

  deviation from social norms

  failure to function adequately

  statistical infrequency

  deviation from ideal mental health
• Deviation from social norms - unwritten rule about what is acceptable in society. A person is seen as abnormal if their behaviour violates these rules.
• AO3. Deviation of social norms is culturally relative. Social norms differ between cultures, and what is considered normal in one culture may be abnormal in another. For example, in some countries homosexuality is illegal, and therefore considered abnormal. However, in the rest of the world it is considered normal. This shows that there is no global standard for defining behaviour as abnormal and therefore abnormality is not standardised
• AO3. Social norms change over time, which raises the issue of hindsight bias. For example, homosexuality was regarded as a mental illness in the UK until 1973, but now it is regarded as normal behaviour. This means that, historically, reliance on deviation from social norms definition of abnormality may have resulted in violation of human rights.
• AO3. How far an individual deviates from a social norm is mediated by the severity and the context. For example, when someone breaks a social norm once, this may not be deviant behaviour, but the repetition could be a sign of psychological disturbance. Likewise, someone walking topless on the beach would be normal, but this would be abnormal in an office environment. This definition fails to offer a complete explanation and is related to the context.
• Failure to function adequately - a person is considered abnormal if they are unable to cope with the demands of everyday life and live independently in society.
• AO3. A weakness of failure to function adequately is that it stems from individual differences. For example, one person with OCD may exhibit excessive rituals that prevent them from functioning adequately as they constantly miss work, whereas another person may suffer from the same excessive rituals but find time to complete them and always attend work on time. This means that despite their same psychological and behavioural symptoms, each person would be diagnosed differently according to this definition.
• AO3. A strength of failure to function adequately definition is that is that it considers subjective personal experiences of the patient. This definition considers the thoughts and feeling of the person experiencing the issue and does not make a judgement without taking the personal viewpoint of the sufferer into consideration. This suggests that the failure to function adequately definition is a useful model for assessing psychopathological behaviour.
• AO3. There is often confusion with distinguishing between failure to function adequately and deviation from social norms. On occasion, a behaviour which appears to be a failure to function adequately, such as not being able to go to work, may in fact also be a deviation from the social norm, as the person may be choosing to live an alternative lifestyle out of the common system for that society. By labelling individuals who make such choices as ' failing ', personal freedom is being quashed.
• Statistical infrequency - a behaviour is seen as abnormal if it is statistically uncommon or not seen very often in society. Abnormality is determined by looking at the distribution of a particular behaviour within society.
• Statistical infrequency - A normal distribution curve can be used to represent the proportions of the population sharing a particular characteristic.
• AO3. One problem with statistical infrequency as a definition of abnormality is the issue of misdiagnosis. Certain behaviours are statistically common, for example around 10 % of people experience depression, making this behaviour ' normal '. On the other hand, other behaviours like high IQ are statistically uncommon and therefore considered abnormal, despite their desirable nature. This is a serious drawback of adopting this approach.
• AO3. An issue with statistical infrequency is that labelling an individual as abnormal can be unhelpful. this is especially true, for example, of someone with a low IQ since they will be able to live happily without distress to themselves or others. The label may contribute to poor self image or become an invitation for discrimination. This means that being labelled as statistically infrequent could cause the person more distress than the condition itself.
• Deviation from ideal mental health - Jahoda ( 1958 ) suggested that abnormal behaviour should be defined by the absence of particular characteristics
• Jahoda six principles of ideal mental health:

  having a positive view of yourself

  being capable of positive growth

  being independent of others

  having an accurate view of reality

  being able to integrate and resist stress

  being able to master your environment
• AO3. One weakness of the deviation from ideal mental health is the unrealistic criteria proposed by Jahoda. There are times when everyone will experience stress and negativity, for example during the death of a loved one. However, according to this definition, these people would be seen as abnormal, despite irrespective of the circumstances which are outside of their control. How many characteristics need to be absent for diagnosis is also questionable.
• AO3. A strength of Jahoda's definition is that it takes a positive and holistic stance. First, the definition focuses on positive and desirable behaviours. Secondly the definition considers the whole person, taking into account a multitude of factors that can affect their health and well being. This makes it comprehensive, covering a broad range of criteria.
• AO3. An issue with Jahoda's definition is cultural relativism. Some of the criteria for ideal mental health could be considered Western in origin. For example, her emphasis for personal growth and development may be considered overly self centred in other countries that favour community over the individual. This makes the definition culture bound