Definitions of Abnormality

Cards (22)

  • Identify the definitions of abnormality
    1. Deviation from social norms
    2. Deviation from ideal mental health
    3. Failure to function adequately
    4. Statistical infrequency
  • Deviation from ideal mental health
    Researcher: Marie Jahoda(1958)
    humanist principles in defining six features of ideal mental health, suggesting that deviation from these features would indicate an abnormality:
    Environmental mastery
    Autonomy
    Resisting stress
    Self actualisation
    Positive attitude towards oneself
    Accurate perception of reality
  • Deviation from social norms

    • According to the definition, a person is considered abnormal when their behaviour doesn’t follow social norms
    • Social norms are unwritten rules for how members of a social group are expected to behave
  • Failure to function adequately
    When people are unable to cope with normal tasks in their everyday life, such as getting ready and going to work
  • Statistical infrequency
    • This definition states that abnormal behaviour is behaviour that is very rare
    • Statistics are how we measure how common behaviours or traits are when measured in comparison to the rest of the population
  • Features: Failure to function adequately
    • Maladaptive behaviour
    • Personal anguish
    • Observer discomfort
    • Irrationality and unpredictability
    • Unconventionality
    • Researchers: Rosenhan and Seligman (1989)
  • Strength: Failure to function adequately
    • This definition had clinical application
    • For example, in disorders like ADHD, autism, depression and OCD, clinicians only provide a diagnosis when they consider symptoms to impact on patients’ ability to function day to day
    • This is a strength as the criteria in FTFA provide a useful threshold for clinicians when deciding whether to provide a clinical diagnosis, and so recommend treatment
    • This allows therapies to be prioritised for those who need it most, improving the usefulness of FTFA as a definition of abnormality
  • Negative Implications: Limitations of FTFA p1
    • Could lead to the labelling of alternative lifestyles as abnormal
    • For example, people who engage in thrill-seeking behaviours like base jumping or mountaineering could be labelled as abnormal according to FTFA, when they simply have different preferences and hobbies
  • Negative Implications: FTFA p2

    • Labelling alternative lifestyles as abnormal according to FTFA
    • Could lead to people being inappropriately labelled as a danger to themselves or others
    • Could cause them to be referred for treatment they do not need
    • Unnecessary referrals for treatment puts strain on mental health services, which has negative implications for the economy
  • Context Specific: FTFA
    • The definition does not consider people's circumstances when labelling them as abnormal
    • For example, people in high pressure jobs like banking are chronically stressed but are not abnormal as they accept this is part of the workplace culture
  • Context Specific: FTFA p2
    • Likewise students may fail to function during exam season, even though this is a normal expectation for students across the country
    • This is a limitation as behaviours that are considered normal within their natural setting or context are instead labelled abnormal by society
    • Potentially causing additional stress for the people in these communities
  • LIMITATION: DIMH definition is culture specific
    • it is culture-specific
    • Jahoda’s criteria are based on an American-centric view of mental health that prioritises autonomy and personal independence
    • This is an issue as countries that prioritise community and interdependence as attributes are likely to be classified as abnormal
    • As a result, DIHM is a culturally relative definition of abnormality, meaning unique criteria would need to be developed by clinicians in each country in order to be valid
  • Given all of Jahoda's criteria must be met for ideal mental health, it is unlikely any of us will achieve ideal mental health for a prolonged period in our lifetimes, in particular self-actualisation
  • STRENGTH: DIMH has real world application
    • it has practical application to clinical diagnoses
    • As DIMH uses standardised criteria to define the characteristics of ideal mental health
    • In turn, this allows for a consistent and reliable measurement to be used in the assessment of people’s mental health
    • This is a strength as it provides an objective and reliable measure for clinicians to use when diagnosing if a person is deviating from ideal mental health, by drawing a clear distinction between mental health and psychological illness
    • This will improve patients’ access to appropriate treatment
  • STRENGTH

    SI definition has real world application
  • Disorders such as Intellectual disability are diagnosed by looking at how representative a behaviour is within the population
  • People who receive this diagnosis have less than 70 in an IQ test
  • This is the case in less than 2% of the population and is therefore considered abnormal
  • Strength of the definition
    • Allows for clinical diagnosis to be given to those behaviours which deviate from the statistical norm
    • Allows clinicians to quickly identify who is most in need of treatment or support
  • This shows the value of using statistical frequency criterion when defining abnormal behaviours
  • LIMITATION: SI definition is culture specific
    • it is culture-bound
    • For example, according to Kessler & Bromet (2013), the prevalence of depression in France (21%) is much higher than it is in Japan (6%).
    • This is an issue, as a person diagnosed with depression may be considered normal in France but abnormal in Japan due to cultural differences in diagnosis, which could impact how depressed individuals are viewed by society.
    • Therefore, we must accept that defining abnormality by statistical infrequency cannot be generalised across cultures, so lacks external validity
  • LIMITATION: SI definition has negative implications of labelling behaviours as abnormal
    • not all rare characteristics should be considered abnormal.
    • For example, very few people have above 120 IQ, but it would not be useful to label such a person as abnormal as they do not require treatment.
    • This is a limitation as statistical infrequency fails to distinguish between desirable and undesirable rare behaviours and labels both as abnormal
    • Futhermore, there is not a meaningful cut-off at which point behaviour becomes abnormal. Instead, it is an arbitrary percentage.