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Defining & Explaining
Abnormality
Definitions
Strengths & Limitations
Definitions you need to be able to
explain and evaluate.
• Deviation from social norms
• Failure to function adequately
• Deviation from ideal mental health
DEVIATION FROM SOCIAL
NORMS
• Social norms are a set of rules for
behaviour based on a set of moral
and conventional standards within
society.
• They are judged by the dominant
culture
What is seen as normal behaviour
in the dominant culture
•
John Maguire and Laurence Scott-Mackay were the first couple to
exchange vows in a civil partnership ceremony in Scotland, with a
ceremony in Edinburgh
May not be seen as normal
behaviour in a different culture
Or sub-culture
There are cultural issues with this
definition
• http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/
2005/09/0901_050901_firewalking.html
• http://www.downtheroad.org/Asia/Photo/a6
Malaysia_pictures2/6indian_fire_walking_c
eremony.htm
This definition is therefore culturally
relative
Social norms vary from one
culture or society to another
• social norms vary from one
time to another
Wilde and Lord Alfred Douglas in 1893
On 25 May 1895 Wilde was convicted of gross indecency
and sentenced to two years' hard labour.
• In 1973, the weight of empirical data, coupled with
changing social norms and the development of a
politically active gay community in the United States, led
the Board of Directors of the American Psychiatric
Association to remove homosexuality from the
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
(DSM). Some psychiatrists who fiercely opposed their
action subsequently circulated a petition calling for a
vote on the issue by the Association's membership. That
vote was held in 1974, and the Board's decision was
ratified.
what is deviant is often related to
the context of the situation
Deviation from social norms may
sometimes be illegal rather than
abnormal!
FAILURE TO FUNCTION
ADEQUATELY
• From an individual’s point of view
abnormality can be judged in
terms of not being able to cope
with day to day living.
It may be the case that apparently
dysfunctional behaviour is actually
adaptive and functional for the
specific individual.
This definition may be biased by
who judges ‘failure to function
adequately’ as in the opinion of the
individual they may believe that
they are functioning adequately
even if others do not agree.
Failure to function may be as a
result of economic or social
conditions
Some people may appear to
function quite well yet still have
psychological abnormality.
• http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economi
cs/laureates/1994/nash-autobio.html
What is ‘adequate’ in one culture
may not be in another
DEVIATION FROM IDEAL
MENTAL HEALTH
• This judges mental health in the same way
as physical health, a person requires
certain attributes to be mentally healthy.
• Jahoda found six categories that were
commonly referred to as desirable for
mental health.
•
•
•
•
•
•
good self image
drive to realize self-potential
ability to cope with stress
being independent (autonomous)
having an accurate perception of reality
Being able to adapt to changes in the
environment
• absence of these indicates abnormality.
However many of the categories
are difficult to achieve
• Lego man is checking his self image……
Categories are based on a Western
and individualist cultural ideal so
the measure is ethnocentric
• A drive to realise self potential may look
odd to some!
Interpretation is subjective.
Who decides which looks normal?
It is unclear how far a person could
deviate before being defined as
abnormal
• Tattoos and piercings are now accepted
as normal but even these may sometimes
viewed as abnormal… does this indicate
psychological abnormality?
How is psychological abnormality
really judged.
• The dominant approach to psychopathology (the
study of psychological abnormality) is the
biological or medical model
• This sees psychological abnormality in terms of:
signs and symptoms that regularly occur
together and can therefore be referred to as a
syndrome
these syndromes are distinctive from any
other signs and symptoms and can therefore
be identified as a particular disorder.
Two major Classification systems
• The International Classification System for
Diseases –ICD was developed by the
World Health Organization (WHO) –
currently in it’s 10th edition. Mental
disorders were first included in 1952 and
form only a small section of the manuel
• The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of
Mental Disorders – DSM – was developed
by th American Psychiatric Association
(APA) in 1952. The current edition is the
4th.
• This is generally used by mental health
professionals mainly to make diagnoses.
Problems with Diagnosis &
Classification
• Even using these systems there can be
significant disagreement between
psychiatrists - this is generally because
symptoms of different disorders overlap
• There is an overemphasis of the biological
aspects of the disorders with psychological
factors minimised.
• Labelling a person as having a particular
disorder may stigmatise them so raises
ethical issues.