Deviation from Social Norms

• A01 of DFSN

  behaviour that is not considered socially acceptable is abnormal

  Explicit: sometimes written and form laws that govern behaviour (driving on left side of road)

  Implicit: sometimes NORMS OF BEHAVIOUR are unwritten but still are generally accepted

  most of us notice when someone has deviated from social norms

  SOCIAL NORMS ARE SPECIFIC TO CULTURE:

  • social norms differ in each culture and in different generations
  • relatively few behaviours are universally considered abnormal on the basis they breach social norms
• EVALUATION OF DFSN

  FLEXIBLE

  SUBJECTIVE

  CULTURALLY BIASED
• FLEXIBLE


  what is considered to be abnormal adapts to societal norms and not by a strict number like STATISTICAL INFREQUENCY

  High intelligence would be considered abnormal, but societies wouldn't consider that as abnormal behaviour, and are flexible enough to take that into account

  THEREFORE, THIS IS A MORE ACCURATE AND MALLEABLE DEFINITION THAT SI
• SUBJECTIVE


  loses objectivity that statistical infrequency benefits from, as it involves subjectivity when deciding whether someone has deviated from social norms enough to be considered abnormal

  PEOPLE WITHIN SOCIETY DIFFER GREATLY IN WHAT THEY CONSIDER TO BE SOCIALLY ACCEPTABLE

  THEREFORE, IT CAN BE ARGUED THAT DFSN LOSES ACCURACY DUE TO IT BEING OPEN TO OPINION AND INTERPRETATION
• CULTURALLY BIASED - main idea and FERNANDO


  someone from one cultural group may view the behaviour of someone in a different cultural group as abnormal based on their own standards and not the standards of the person behaving in that way

  ETHNOCENTRISM: when one culture is used as the standard to which other cultures are judged and evaluated

  FERNANDO:

  • people in the UK with Afro-Caribbean heritage are 7x more likely to be diagnosed with schizophrenia

  FERNANDO STATED THIS WAS A:

  CATEGORY FAILURE: category of abnormality based off of white/European cultures
• B.A.M.E. communities

  this communities are more likely to be:

  • admitted to hospital
  • diagnosed with a mental disorder
  • have a negative outcome from treatment
  • DISENGAGE FROM MAINSTREAM MENTAL HEALTH FACILITIES which leads to deterioration in mental health

  THIS IS DUE TO MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES FAILING TO UNDERSTAND AND PROVIDE ACCESSIBLE AND APPROPRIATE TREATMENT TO FIT OTHER CULTURE'S NEEDS

  
  

  THEREFORE, IT CAN BE ARGUED THAT THIS DEFINITION IS LIMITED IN THAT IT CANNOT BE APPLIED EVENLY ACROSS DIFFERENT CULTURES