Abnormality Flashcards
What are the 4 identified definitions of abnormality?
- Statistical Infrequency
- Deviation from social norms
- Failure to function adequately
- Deviation from ideal mental health
What is ‘statistical infrequency’ in terms of abnormality?
When a person’s characteristic/behaviour falls outside of the average. E.g. being abnormally tall
What is ‘deviation from social norms’ in terms of abnormality?
Each society or culture has its own rules and expectations - being abnormal would mean violating the expected, acceptable, and approved ways of behaving
What is ‘failure to function adequately’ in terms of abnormality?
Behaviours impacting day-to-day life. 7 features of personal dysfunction
What are the 7 features of personal dysfunction in the ‘failure to function adequately’ definition of abnormality?
- Irrationality
- Observer discomfort
- Unpredictability
- Maladaptive
- Personal distress
- Violation of moral standards
- Unconventional behaviours
What is ‘deviation from ideal mental health’ in terms of abnormality?
A lack of the 6 identified features would define you as abnormal
What are the 6 features involved in the defining ‘deviation from ideal mental health’s abnormality?
- The ability to cope with stress
- Ability to grow and achieve full potential
- Positive self-concept and sense of identity
- Personal autonomy
- An accurate perception of reality
- Environmental mastery
How can abnormality vary?
Differences across cultures, groups, and time
What are the strengths of the ‘statistical infrequency’ definition of abnormality?
Objective - no bias as it is based on mathematical figures
Representative - looks at the whole picture
Benefits vs. problems - Infrequency means people can easily access support
Useful - Can be used in clinical practice to define characteristics of a disorder
What are the weaknesses of ‘statistical infrequency’ in terms of abnormality?
Inflexible - Cut off points can be illogical as a threshold for abnormality
Abnormality behaviours can occur frequently - e.g. mental health effects 25% population
Unusual characteristic can be positive - e.g. high IQ
What are the strengths of ‘deviation of social norms’ in terms of abnormality?
Helps society - society is more ordered and predictable
Useful - Can be used as part of diagnosis or assessing severity
What are the weaknesses of ‘deviation from social norms’ in terms of abnormality?
Change over time - e.g. homosexuality was seen as a mental disorder until 1970s
There is a senseful of ‘rightness’ - society is right, everyone else is wrong?
Cultural differences - not always clear what is abnormal
What are the strengths of ‘failure to function adequately’ in terms of abnormality?
Operationalised - the GAF scale allows it to be measured
Practical applications - helps people seek professional help
Suggests freewill - focuses on the individual
Falsifiable - issues can be seen by others to seek help
What are the weaknesses of ‘failure to function adequately’ in terms of abnormality?
Abnormality doesn’t always impact function - may appear fine with distorted thinking
Too much focus on the individual - may impact others around them, not only them
Everyday life varies
What are the strengths of ‘deviation from ideal mental health’in terms of abnormality?
Practical applications - makes treatment plans
Useful - provides clear goals to set to achieve normality
Comprehensive definition - provides checklist to assess against
