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HUBERT KAIRUKI
MEMORIAL UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE
TOPIC: THEORIES OF ABNORMALITY
PRESENTERS
ACHSAH
MALAGO
ALBERT MLIGO
BAHATI MRIKARIA
CHARLES CHARLES PETRO
DARLING CHIRAGWILE
EDWIN ERASTO
ENAWIN GODLOVE
GITOMELDA ASKWERY
JOACHIM J. PARESSO
FACILITATOR:
MR. ISAACK LEMA
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
DEFINITION
OF TERMS
OBJECTIVES
MAIN
DISCUSSION
SUMMARRY
CONCLUSSION
RECOMMENDATIONS
REFERENCES
INTRODUCTION
CRITERIA FOR DEFINING ABNORMALITY
INCLUDES
 Personal
distress: Subjective experience
and suffering
 Violation with social norms: Exhibits
behavior that is socially undiserable
 Maladaptive behavior: Has impaired
functioning eg,insomnia
 Danger to self or to others: Usually
dangerous to self via poor judgment
AS FAR AS SEVERAL RESEARCH ARE
CONCERNED
There are some existing disorders that can be
classified under mental disorders like:
a.
Anxiety disorders
b.
Eating disorders
c.
Sexual disorders
d.
Personality disorders
e.
Impulse control disorders
f.
Mood disorders
g.
Dissociative disorders
WHAT IS A NORMAL PERSON ?
A normal person should be:
i.
In touch with his/her own identity
ii.
Resistant to stress
iii. Focused on a future in self actualization
iv.
Empathy in understanding of others

DEFINITION OF TERMS
Abnormal psychology: The study of the
development of abnormal behavior
 Diathesis: An individual`s vulnerability toward
having a particular abnormality or disease
 Psychopathology:Behavioral , emotional or
thought patterns that are deemed or atypical
because they cause personal distress or imparred
functioning

OBJECTIVES
Distinguish among biological , psychological and
social approaches to abnormality.
 Discuss three biological causes of abnormality.
 Summarize classical and operant conditioning
and give examples of each .
 Discuss observational learning and modeling.
 Discuss the social theories of abnormality in
terms of the hypothesized role of interpersonal
relationships , family dynamics and the larger
society in producing psychological symptoms

BIOLOGICAL THEORY OF
ABNORMALITY
Biological theory of abnormality is due to :
A. Abnormality in structure of the brain cause
mental disorder. Abnormality in brain occurs In
three regions that are :
i.
Cerebral cortex:
Its associates with poor judgement and insight in
emotional abilities and euphoria

BIOLOGICAL THEORY CONT……
ii.Hypothalamus:
The posterior region of hypothalamus is especially
important in the study of violence they also
involve in control of emergency response
required when an animal is threatened
iii.Limbic system:
Involve hypocampus,amygdala etc. which also
involved in memory and socialization
BIOLOGICAL THEORY CONT……
b. Gene factor in abnormality
 Is due to defective gene caused by either pressure
of extra gene in the chromosomes example of
such condition are Klinefelter syndrome
 Also genetic factor is associates with mutations
BIOLOGICAL THEORY CONT…..
C. Biochemical cause of abnormality:
 Is due to neural transmitter imbalance. There
are about 2 billion neurons in the brain and each
neuron can interact with 10,000 other neurons
 Imbalance of neurotransmitter can be caused by
either hyper secretion or hypo secretion
PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORY OF
ABNORMALITY
Psychological abnormality results as one grows,
these effects may develop as a result of listening
or viewing different mind,distructive things such
as assacinatrous,e.t.c
 This is to say the surrounding environment has a
large effect to psychological well being.

PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORY CONT….




The environment causes which may lead to
psychological abnormality are such as;
Unconscious conflicts between primitive desires
and constraints, which may give rise to mental
illness.
Symptoms of mental disorders due to
reinforcements and punishments for specific
behaviors and feelings.
People’s way of interpreting situations,
involving their assumptions about the world and
self-concepts can cause negative
feelings/behaviour.
STRENGTH OF THE THEORY
All the things mentioned lies under an
unconscious mind
 The concept of unconcious is widely accepted
 It was the first theory to suggest that adult
abnormality is caused in childhood
 It inverted talking therapy

DIASTHESIS-STRESS MODEL


Diathesis-stress model is psychological theory
that attempts to explain behavior as a
predispositonal vulnerability together with stress
from life experience
The term diathesis derives from the greak term
for disposition or vulnerability and it can take
the form of genetic , psychological , biological or
situational factors . A large range of individual
differences exists between person`s vulnerability
and developmental disorder
DIASTHESIS
The term diasthesis is synonymous with
vulnerability Meaning a state of an individual to
fail to defend him or her self
 Stress can be conceptualized as a life event that
disrupts the equilibrium of a person`s life.
Forinstance a person may be valnerable to
become depressed but will not develop depression
unless he or she is exposed to a specific stress
which may trigger a depressive disorder

DIATHESIS-SRESS
MODEL
BIO-PSYCHOSOCIAL INTERGRATION
THEORY
Biopsychosocial is one among the theories of
abnormality which explain intergration of
biological , psychological and social on
controlling the behavior of an individual
The theory shows interaction of biological factors
(genetic , biochemical , disability etc) ,
psychological factors (mood , personality
behavior etc) and social factors (cultural ,
familly , socio-economic etc)
DIAGRAMATIC REPRESENTATION OF THE
THEORY
BIOLOGICAL
Diseases
Symptoms
SOCIAL
Hobbies
PSYCHOLOGICAL
Isolation
Guilty
Family
Friends
Stress
Career
Anxiety
BIO-PSYCHOSOCIAL CONT….
Failure of interaction of one or two of the factors
either social factors and biological factors or
social factors and psychological factors may cause
abnormal behavior on the person
For example:
Let consider situation of divorcing , when the
relationship between two couples reach the end
one of two couple or both may develop behavior
which is abnormal like taking alcohol in order to
reduce stress
ADVANTAGES OF THE THEORY

o
The theory consider three aspects biological ,
psychological and social on influencing
health care
Another advantage is that cure , recovery and
good healthcare not completely in the hands of
medical experts but are infacts , partly in control
of the patients themselves. So treatment of
patients psychologically and biologically
alongside with medical expert may bring quick
recovery
DISADVANTAGES OF THEORY
The theory assume that all mental are in fact
psychological . This is not true forexample
getting accidents which lead to disability this is
not due to intergration of biosychosocial factors
 Some critics feel that incorrect behavior cannot
be treated as a medical condition as very rare do
biological factors have a role in inducing it.

BEHAVIORAL THEORY OF
ABNORMALITY
 This
focuses more on observable behavior
than on the inner mental life.
 In this perspective the abnormal behavior
is based on learning in environmental
experience.
 This theory is well defined under the
following perspectives:
BEHAVIORAL THEORY CONT..

•
•
Classical condition
This is the learning process in which unrelated
stimulus repeatedly paired and over time
reaction to the second stimulus can be achieved
by first stimulus alone.
Example: The presence of food will make a dog
drool as it in a biological response, Ivan Pavlov
notice that the dog in this house will start
drooling at the sound of the footstep of the
person that come to feed them and there was
any food present.
BEHAVIORAL THEORY CONT..

•
•
•
Operant Condition
This involve the shaping of abnormal
behavior through reinforces.
This includes the positive reinforcement
and negative reinforcement.
If the abnormal behavior is reinforced it
will be repeatedly hence abnormality.
BEHAVIORAL THEORY CONT..
 Positive
•
•
reinforcement
In this aspect the abnormality can occur
through rewards as the positive
reinforcement(rewards by pleasurable
reinforcement).
Example: A person who gets who gets
what they want they has been the positive
reinforced behave aggressive towards
people, therefore in this example
aggressive behavior and so the people is
more likely to behave aggressive towards
people in future.
BEHAVIORAL THEORY CONT..

•
•

•
Negative reinforcement
This involve the use of punishment so as to shape
the behavior of a person/individual.
Example: A social phobic feel relieved of anxiety
when she avoids parties so she continue to avoid
Modeling theory
Learning based on observing others, even in the
absence of obvious reinforces, we are influenced
by watching and initiating others. We are
influenced by the rewards an punishments others
receive for their actions e.g. peer group.
HUMANISTIC APPROACH
The humanistic approach says that abnormality
occurs when people are not able to be their
authentic selves.
 According to humanistic psychology, people can
only be their authentic selves when their physical
and social needs are met first. However, because
many people do not have those needs met, they
not able to pursue their deepest true passion.

SOCIOCULTURAL APPROACH
People don’t live in a vacuum, which is why the
sociocultural approach looks at the impact of
society on abnormal psychology.
 Whether it is family dynamics, cultural
expectations or societal biases, sociocultural
psychologists look at the way society can cause or
exacerbate abnormality.
 Treatments include therapy, including group
sessions, where people can get support and find a
way to deal with the pressure of the world
around them.

COGNITIVE MODEL
OF ABNORMALITY
This model is based on the idea that faulty
thinking causes faulty behaviors and that
negative thoughts lead to irrational beliefs and
illogical errors.
 Psychologists who follow the cognitive approach
explain abnormality in terms of the thought
processes of the patient.
 Thought processes and perceptions are viewed as
the major force of the mental ill, and treatment
focuses on changing maladaptive thought
patterns.

There are three main areas of the model which
are:
a)
Beck’s Cognitive Triad
b)
Seligman’s Theory of Attribution
c)
The Three Biases

•
 Beck’s Cognitive Triad
According to Beck, this is cycle which is
thought to lead to depression. The
component of the triad are: negative
views about the world, negative views
about one self and negative views
about the future thus in turn lead to
each other.
Negative
views
about the
world
Negative
views about
one self
Negative
views
about the
future

•
•
•
•
•
•
Seligman’s Theory of Attribution
This is the theory that how a person perceives an
event will affect their behavior.
An event can be internal, external, stable,
unstable, global and specific.
Example- failing a driving test.
Internal- “I need more lessons”. External- “the
examiner don’t like me”.
Stable- “no matter what I do, I’ll always fail”.
Unstable- “I’ll work hard and pass next time”
Global- “I’ll fail at life”. Specific – “I may fail
my driving test but I will pass other things”

•
•
•
•
The Three Biases
This are said to add negative thoughts and
irrational beliefs
Attention- people with anxiety disorders
automatically give attention and information
they are anxious about triggering maladaptive
thoughts
Reasoning- people suffering from psychological
disorders show biases in their reasoning.
Memory- people suffering from depression are
more likely to recall negative information adding
to irrational beliefs.
SUMMARRY

Apart from defining what is abnormal from above
theories we can also define what is normal/ideal and
anything that deviates from this is regarded as
abnormal . This is called Deviation from
Mental health . There are six criteria by
which mental health could be measured:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
Positive view of the self
Capability of growth and development
Autonomy and independence
Positive friendship and relationship
Accurate perception of reality
Environmental mastery
CONCLUSSION

As far as several theories are concerned it has
been observed that 95 % of people in the society
or community or any group of people are not
normal . For any one to be considered as a
normal person he / she must be compartible with
the characteristics that defines a normal person
forinstance a normal person should be intouch
with his / her own identity like having stable self
esteem and self loving
REFFERENCES
Psychology lecture notes by Wayne Hooke
 Oxford dictionary
 Google

Any
question…
Thank you for
listening