Defintions Of Abnormality Flashcards
In deviation from mental health how many criteria are there that define mental healthiness ?
6
What happens if there is a failure to meet one or more of these criteria ?
Would suggest an abnormality , the more criteria they fail to meet , the more abnormal the person would be deemed
What are the 6 things that would deem someone as abnormal ?
Have negative self attitudes
Have problems with self actualisation
Unable to resists stress
Lack of autonomy
Innacurate perception of reality
Poor environmental mastery
Have negative self attitudes
Low self esteem and lack of self identity
Unable to resist stress
Inability to cope with stress
Ao3 - strength of ideal mental health as a definition of abnormality
Covers broad range of criteria for mental health and most reasons why someone would seek help
In contrast to other definitions such as deviation from social norms which only focuses on one criteria for defining abnormality
Therefore the vast range of factors discussed in relation to ideal mental health make it an appropriate definition of abnormality
Ao3 weakness , argued deviation from ideal mental health definition is too strict
People realistically may not be able to meet all 6 characteristics that define mental healthiness
Eg an induvidual who has lost there job may not be able to cope with the stressful situation and may develop a negative self attitude
By this definition the individual may be classed as abnormal even though this may be a rational response for many
Limiting use of dimh as a definition of abnormality
Statistical infrequency
Suggest we must look as behaviours that are typical of general population and any behaviour which is rare , is abnormal
On a distribution curve what is satistically rare ?
Any behaviour that is 2 or more standard deviation from mean
Give an example of statistical infrequency ?
OCD affects 2% of the population so therefore abnormal as it’s statistically rare
Ao3 si practical applications
Used in real world in clinical practice to diagnose and asses severity of an individuals symptoms
Eg diagnosis of intellectual disability requires an iq below 70
Thus SI as definition of abnormality is an important part of applied psychology as it useful part of clinical assessment
Ao3 si limitation
Does not differentiate between desirable and undesirable behaviour when defining abnormality
Eg high iq is desirable and would not be considered abnormal
However a high iq is seen as statistically rare and would therefore be abnormal by this definition , despite the individual not needing treatment to return to normal
Thus this is a limitation of si as definition of abnormality because although behaviour is rare it does not mean it would need to be treated as an abnormality
