A03 (2) Definitions of abnormalities

• Labelling

  When making a judgement that someone is failing to cope we may give them a label and thus, future employers/partners/financial organisations may attach a permanent label to this person
• It sets an unrealistically high standard for mental health


  Only a few people attain all Jahoda's criteria for mental health. Thus, this approach would see almost all people as 'abnormal'. This could help show people that they need to improve their mental health- counselling. But however, this is probably of no value as applying the criteria to someone would be very hard
• Cultural relativism

  Jahoda's ideas are culture-bound to Western European/North American cultures. Lots of emphasis on independence so the ideas would apply to individualist cultures but not collectivist cultures
• It is a comprehensive definition


  Covers a broad range of criteria of mental health. Makes it a good tool for thinking about mental health
• Subjective judgements

  When deciding whether someone is FTFA, someone has to judge whether a patient is distressed/distressing. Some methods make this judgement objective like the 'Global Assessment of Functioning Scale'. But, someone still has to make the judgement
• Is it simply a deviation from social norms?


  It can be hard to say when someone is Failing To Function when they are deviating from social norms. People with alternate lifestyles can't be called 'failures' of adequate functioning as we risk limiting personal freedom and discriminating against minority groups
• Patient's perspective

  FTFA theory attempts to include the subjective experiences of the individual. It may be difficult to assess but at least this acknowledges the experience of the patient is important. Captures the experience of many of the people who need help: useful criteria