AO3 - DSN

• One weakness of deviation from social norms as a definition for abnormality is that social norms are created within a culture, therefor it can be argued that DSN is limited by cultural relativism. Different cultures have different social norms and expectations of behaviour, for example in a western culture, someone receiving messages sent from spirits could be seen as a symptom of schizophrenia whereas in a non western culture, it could be seen as a spiritual gift (Shaman). Therefore it may not be appropriate to use DSN to define abnormality outside of a specific culture.
• However, a strength of DSN is that it has real life application in the diagnosis of APD. Mental health practitioners can look at what is deemed acceptable in society and use those social norms to diagnose abnormal behaviour. For example, an individual who lacks remorse is deviating from social norms and this behaviour would be unexpected within society. These behaviours can be used by practitioners to judge whether an individual is displaying abnormal behaviour and therefore diagnose APD. Therefore, DSN is a useful definition when differentiating between normal and abnormal behaviour.