Definitions of Abnormality Flashcards
(16 cards)
how can we define abnormality
- Deviation from social norms
- Failure to function adequately
- Deviation from ideal mental health
- Statistical Infrequency
A01- Deviation from Social Norms + examples
- Social Norms are explicit and implicit rules that a society has about what are acceptable behaviours, values and beliefs.
- People who do not follow social norms are often labelled as abnormal.
- A Chinese delicacy dating back centuries, these are duck, quail or chicken’s eggs buried for several months until the yoke turns a dark, soft green and the white has become a dark brown jelly. The egg smells of ammonia and is eaten with rice or as a side dish.
- The lip plates are used by a traditional
African tribe and denote how valuable a woman is (how many cattle she is worth). - The neck rings are used by the Kayan
people who begin the process in children as young as five. - During the festival of Ashura, Shiite
Muslims may engage in self-flagellation as a mark of respect, devotion and absolution.
-ve AO3 eccentric or abnormal? (Deviation from Social Norms)
- Some people that defy norms may just be eccentric, not suffering from a disorder.
- E.g. an old lady that lives at home with
twenty cats is just eccentric, not necessarily suffering from a mental
disorder
-ve AO3 the role of context (Deviation from Social Norms)
- Most of our social norms change
according to context. - E.g. swearing at the players at a football match is normal, but try the same at a classical music concert and you may well be arrested.
-ve AO3 changing with the times (Deviation from Social Norms)
- Social norms change throughout time.
- In the Uk up until 1967, homosexuality was listed as a criminal offence.
- In the USA until 1973, it was classified as a psychiatric disorder.
- Now it is a celebrated and accepted part of everyday life in our culture
A01- Failure to Function
Adequately
- Under this definition, a person is
considered abnormal if they are unable to cope with the demands of everyday life. - They may be unable to perform the
behaviours necessary for day-to-day living e.g. self-care, hold down a job, interact meaningfully with others, make
themselves understood etc.
+ve AO3 FFA
can be used to diagnose people with mental disorders, multiple people involved
-ve A03 Limitations of this Definition (Failure to Function Adequately)
- Most people fail to function adequately at some time, but are not considered ‘abnormal’
- After a bereavement most people find it difficult to cope normally
- Ironically, they might actually be considered more abnormal if they functioned as usual
- There are many highly functioning
psychopaths, e.g. Harold Shipman, Lucy Letby - These people appear completely normal but engage in psychopathic behaviour, therefore this definition does not fit for everyone.
A01 Deviation from Ideal Mental health
A01 Deviation from Ideal Mental health
- Jahoda identified six main criteria for “optimal living”
- She claimed anyone lacking these
qualities would be vulnerable to mental disorder:
Jahoda’s Six Criteria
- Positive Attitude towards the self
- Self-actualisation of potential (being able to achieve your goals)
- Resistance to stress
- Personal Autonomy (independence)
- Accurate Perception of Reality
- Adapting to and mastering the
environment
-ve AO3 Limitations of this Definition (Deviation from Ideal Mental health)
- Jahoda’s and others’ criteria set the bar too high.
- So few people actually meet these criteria that everyone ends up classed as abnormal and so the concept becomes meaningless
The difficulty of self-actualising:
- Very few people achieve their full potential in life. How do we even know what our full potential is?!
Possible benefits of Stress:
- Some people actually work more efficiently in stressful situations/under pressure.
-ve AO3 Cultural Limitations (Deviation from Ideal Mental health)
- What is considered ideal is historically and culturally specific
- Jahoda’s ideas are based on Western
ideas of self-fulfilment and individuality. - In the East (e.g. Saudi Arabia) women are not permitted to self-actualise!
Statistical Infrequency A01
- Under this definition you are abnormal if you exhibit behaviour that is rare or uncommon (“statistically infrequent”) i.e. found in very few people
+ve AO3 real life application (Statistical Infrequency)
- Doctors actually use aspects of statistics in assessing whether someone is suffering from a disorder or not in their clinical diagnosis
- E.g. Doctors diagnose Intellectual
disability disorder if anyone scores in the bottom 2.5% of the population on an IQ test
-ve AO3 not always true! (Statistical Infrequency)
- sometimes statistically infrequent
behaviour is desirable - E.g. really high IQ, confident, assertive
- Sometimes statistically FREQUENT
behaviour is UNDESIRABLE e.g.
depression is extremely common
-ve AO3 Subjectivity (Statistical Infrequency)
- The cut-off point for “statistical
infrequency” is subjectively determined- is it behaviours that are 1 in 100? 1 in 1000? 1 in 10,000?!
