definitions of abnormality

Question 1

what are the 4 definitions of abnormality?

Answer 1

•Statistical deviation
•Deviation from social norms
•failure to function adequately
•deviation from ideal mental health

Question 2

what is statistical deviation?

Answer 2

This occurs when an individual has a less common characteristic, for example being more or less intelligent than most of the population. It is numerically unusual behaviour or characteristics.

Question 3

strength of statistical deviation

Answer 3

It has real-life applications, especially in the diagnosis of intellectual disability disorders. It’s a useful part of clinical assessment

Question 4

what are some limitations of statistical deviation?

Answer 4

•Unusual characteristics can be positive, just because a few people display certain behaviours does not necessarily deem them as abnormal
•not everyone benefits from a label and some people have no benefits from being labelled as abnormal

Question 5

what is deviation from social norms?

Answer 5

This concerns behaviour that is different from the accepted standards of behaviour in a community or society. for example, homosexuality. Social norms are specific to the culture lived in.

Question 6

what is a strength of deviation from social norms?

Answer 6

It is not a sole explanation, in practice this is never the sole reason for defining abnormality. It has real life application in the diagnosis of anti social personality disorder, which is beneficial to the person and those around them

Question 7

what is the limitation of deviation from social norms- Cultural relativism

Answer 7

•It’s cultural relativism, social norms can vary between generations and communities meaning there is different perceptions of what’s normal and abnormal. For example hearing voices is socially acceptable in some cultures but a sign of mental illness in the UK

Question 8

limitation of deviation from social norms- Can lead to human rights abuses

Answer 8

historically people have been diagnosed with disorders predominantly to maintain control of ethnic minorities and women. These classifications only appear ridiculous now because our social norms have changed.
Some psychologists suggest that some of our modern categories of mental disorders are really abuses of peoples rights to be different

Question 9

what is a historical example of a diagnosis made based on ‘deviating from social norms’ ?

Answer 9

Drapetomania- given to black slaves after they tried to run away

Question 10

what is the manual used to diagnose mental disorders called?

Answer 10

DSM-5

Question 11

what is anti-social disorder?

Answer 11

psychopathy- it’s impulsive, aggressive and irresponsible behaviour. An important symptom is the absence of prosocial internal standards associated with failure to conform to lawful or culturally normative ethical behaviour.

Furthermore, we make the judgment that psychopaths are abnormal because they don’t conform to our moral standards.

Question 12

what is the failure to function adequately?

Answer 12

this occurs when someone is unable to cope with ordinary demands of day-to-day living

Question 13

when is someone failing to function adequately?

Answer 13

•when they no longer conform to standard interpersonal rules (maintaining eye contact + personal space)
•when they experience severe personal distress
•when their behaviour becomes irrational or dangerous

Question 14

what is an example of failing to function adequately?

Answer 14

Intellectual disability disorder

Question 15

what is a strength of the failure to function adequately definition?

Answer 15

It takes into consideration the patients perspective, it is an attempt to include subjective experiences and it is a useful criteria for assessing abnormality

Question 16

limitation of the failure to function adequately definition: is it a deviation from social norms?

Answer 16

•in practice it can be hard to say when someone is really failing to function adequately or just deviating from social norms. for example those who engage in extreme sports can be seen as behaving in a maladaptive way. if we see these behaviours as ‘failures’ of adequate functioning we risk limiting personal freedom and discriminating against minority groups

Question 17

limitation of the failure to function adequately definition: subjective judgements

Answer 17

someone has to judge whether the patient is not functioning adequately/ is distressed. there are methods to make this more objective like using the ‘Global Assessment of Functioning scale’, however someone still has to make this judgment and people could interpret behaviours differently

Question 18

what is deviation from ideal mental health?

Answer 18

it occurs when someone does not meet a set of criteria for good mental health

Question 19

who suggested what good mental health looked like?

Answer 19

Jahoda

Question 20

what was Jahoda’s criteria for good mental health?

Answer 20

•we have no symptoms or distress
•we are rational and can perceive ourselves accurately
•we self actualise
•we can cope with stress
•we have a realistic view of the world
•we have good self esteem and lack of guilt
•we are independent of other people
• we can successfully work, love and enjoy our leisure

Question 21

evaluation points for deviation from ideal mental health

Answer 21

strength: it is a comprehensive definition
limitation: cultural relativism
weakness: it sets unrealistically high standards for mental health

Question 22

DCIMH strength
it is a comprehensive definition

Answer 22

it covers a broad range of criteria for mental health: in fact it probably covers most of the reasons someone would seek help from mental health services or be referred for help. the sheer range of factors discussed in relation to Jahoda’s ideal mental make it a good tool for thinking about mental health

Question 23

DCIMH limitation
cultural relativism

Answer 23

Some of the ideas in Jahoda’s classification of ideal mental health are specific to Western cultures (they are culture- bound) For example, the emphasis on personal achievement in the concept of self actualisation would be considered self- indulgent in much of the world because the emphasis is so much on the individual rather than the family or community. similarly much of the world would see independence from other people as a bad thing. such traits are typical of individualist cultures.

Question 24

DCIMH limitation:
it sets an unrealistically high standard for mental health

Answer 24

very few of us achieve all of Jahoda’s criteria and none of us can achieve them all at the same time. therefor this approach would see pretty much all of us as abnormal. we can see this as positive or negative.
on the positive side it makes it clear to people the ways in which they could benefit from seeking treatment like counselling to improve their mental health. at the other extreme, deviation from idea mental health is probably of no value in thinking about who might benefit from treatment against their will.