Definitions of Abnormality

• Deviation from Social Norms:

  • move away from accepted standards - violates social norms
  • referred to as social deviants
  • Example: tourette’s syndrome will deviate from social norms of not swearing in public
• Deviation from social norms A03: WEAKNESS

  I: ignores that social norms change over time

  E: norms of society change over time as social attitudes change e.g. homosexuality was not removed from the DSM classification until 1990

  C: we cannot classify someone as being abnormal + guarantee they are abnormal in modern society as attitudes constantly change
• Deviation from social norms A03: WEAKNESS

  I: it is culturally relative

  E: social norms vary across cultures so it is difficult to know when they are broken down e.g. being naked in UK is abnormal but other cultures it is not

  C: cannot label people as abnormal cross-culturally as rules vary between cultures
• Deviation from social norms A03: WEAKNESS

  I: ignores the role of context

  E: a person washing their hands 50 times is deviating from social norms, but if the person was a surgeon then it’s completely normal

  C: cannot confidently say someone is abnormal - someone may be falsely deemed as abnormal when they are normal
• Failure to function:

  • failure to function adequately- cannot cope with everyday life
  • does not maintain normal pattern of behaviour
  • Rosenhan and Seligman

  1. Maladaptiveness - persons behaviour interferes with ability to keep their normal daily routine
  2. Unpredictability - behaviour is erratic + uncontrolled
  3. Discomfort - can be personal distress or discomfort of the observer
  4. Irrational - behaviours appear unusual + hard to understand
• Failure to function A03: WEAKNESS

  I: abnormality is not always accompanied by dysfunction

  E: psychopaths commit murders + still appear normal e.g. Harold Shipman murdered at least 215 patients over 23 years and maintained the appearance of a respectable member

  C: may define abnormal people as normal because they can go about their normal day - could be misdiagnosed for their psychotic behaviour + then go untreated or not convicted which has implications for the legal system
• Failure to function A03: WEAKNESS

  I: ignores role of context

  E: times when it is normal to suffer from distress like a bereavement or traumatic experience. Grieving is psychologically healthy therefore maladaptive behaviours are normal in this context

  C: leads to falsely labelling someone going through grief as abnormal when they are normal which has negative implications for diagnosis of maladaptive disorders like depression
• Failure to function A03: WEAKNESS

  I: neither definition is satisfactory on its own

  E: due to their subjective nature each definition fails to consider important aspects of human behaviour e.g. a clinical diagnosis cannot be achieved without considering the criteria for ideal mental health alongside the behaviour within the population + comparing with social norms and maladaptiveness

  C: reductionist + therefore too simplistic therefore more holistic approach should be taken to avoid incorrect classification and false diagnosis
• Deviation from ideal mental health:

  • absence of wellbeing
  • Jahoda: 6 characteristics

  1. Self-actualisation - fulfil your potential
  2. Stress - resist stress
  3. Identity - positive self esteem
  4. Autonomy - function independently
  5. Accurate perception of reality - viewing + experiencing thing exactly as they are
  6. Mastery of the environment - dealing with change

  • Example: schizophrenic experience visual or auditory hallucinations - won’t have accurate perception of reality
• Deviation from ideal mental health A03: WEAKNESS

  I: has over demanding criteria

  E: to be normal you must have all Jahodas criteria - absence of one element makes you abnormal. Few people experience personal growth all the time so most people would be abnormal e.g. teenagers unable to reach self actualisation as they are not given the opportunity to

  C: labels people who are mentally healthy as abnormal meaning high percentage of the population would be falsely considered abnormal + lead to self-fulfilling prophecies + negative schemas which impact mental disorders
• Deviation from ideal mental health A03: WEAKNESS

  I: culturally biased towards western societies

  E: self actualisation is only relevant in individualistic culture. In a collectivist culture this is not something people try to do as they do not value this belief

  C: it cannot be used to accurately identify abnormality cross culturally - cannot be generalised to wider population
• Deviation from ideal mental health A03: WEAKNESS

  I: neither definition is satisfactory on its own

  E: each fail to consider important aspects of human behaviour e.g. clinical diagnosis could not be achieved without considering whether they meet some criteria for ideal mental health alongside identifying the behaviour statistically within the population and comparing with social norms and maladaptiveness

  C: reductionist- too simplistic in labelling + defining abnormal behaviour. More holistic approach to avoid incorrect classification + false diagnosis
• Statistical Infrequency:

  • deviation from statistical norms
  • statistically unusual, rare or uncommon classes as abnormal
  • measured using normal distribution
  • of behaviour falls outside the range then it is classified as abnormal
  • Example: anorexia using measurements of BMI compared to average for the population
• Statistical infrequency A03: STRENGTH

  I: real life applications of this definition

  E: doctors can identify the severity of the disorders by seeing how statistically infrequent their symptoms are + treat them accordingly

  C: able to have a positive impact on patients lives + society
• Statistical infrequency A03: WEAKNESS

  I: unusual characteristics can be positive

  E: high IQ may deviate from the statistical norm but it’s not an undesirable characteristic + is useful as their knowledge can positively contribute to society

  C: it can label those with desirable characteristics as abnormal just because it is infrequent
• Statistical infrequency A03: WEAKNESS

  I: neither definition is satisfactory on its own

  E: fail to consider important aspects of human behaviour

  C: reductionist - too simplistic. More holistic approach to avoid incorrect classifications + false diagnosis