unit 1- defining abnormality Flashcards
two problems with identifying abnomality?
eccentric and unusual behaviour or beliefs are not necessarily abnormal although the boundary is not always clear.
behaviours that are repugnant and threatening to others, such as aggression and murder, are not always signs of an underlying psychological disorder
psychological abnormality
refers to behaviour, speech or thought that impairs the ability of a person to function in way that is generally expected of him or her, in the context where the unusual functioning occurs
mental illness
Is a tern often used to convey the same meaning as psychological abnormality, but it implies a medical rather than psychological cause
psychological disorder
specific manifestation of this impairment of functioning, as described by some set of criteria that have been established by a panel of experts
psychopathology
both the psychological abnormality and the problems faced by people who suffer from such disorders
different attempts at defining abnormality
- statistical concept
- personal distress
- personal dysfunction
- violation of norms
- diagnosis by an expert
statistical concept
behaviour is judged as abnormal if it occurs infrequently in the population, however not all infrequent behaviours should be judged as abnormal (ex. innovative ideas and athletic prowess). another issue with the concept it that it is not clear how unusual a given behaviour has to be in order to be considered abnormal
personal distress
many people who are considered to have a psychological disorder report being distressed, yet distress is not present for all people identified as abnormal. It is normal to feel distressed at times. Distress appears to be a frequent but not essential feature of abnormality
Personal Dysfunction
When behaviour is clearly maladaptive (interferes with appropriate functioning), It is typically said to be abnormal. However, what is appropriate functioning? Within reason, vigilance and anxiety, although distressing, are not abnormal given the circumstances and sometimes serves a survival function
The key notion is “harmful dysfunction” where dysfunctions refer to selected functions, however the link between abnormal and normal are not clear and is a matter of considerable controversy
personal dysfunction-
to conclude that a given behaviour is disordered…
requires both a scientific judgement that there exists a failure of designed function and a value judgment that the design failure harms the individual
evolutionary theory
a trait may be dysfunctional if it harms an organism’s capacity to reproduce successfully
Violation of norms
The behaviour and thought of many psychologically disordered individuals run counter to what we might consider appropriate (note that discomfort in an observer alone cannot count as the basis for judging someone’s behaviour to be disordered)
A flaw is that social norms vary over time and place and few disorders are truly universal across different cultures
how we define abnormality is …
culturally relative
diagnosis by an expert
The identification of a psychological disorder in any specific individual is ultimately left to a professional to judge. in the final analysis, the final opinions of particular mental health workers determine whether a person is said to suffer from psychological abnormality
Clinical psychologists
are initially trained in general psychology and then receive graduate training in the application of this knowledge to the understanding, diagnosis and amelioration of disorders of thinking and behaviour. They have a thorough grounding in research methods and some of them spend their careers doing research on abnormal functioning, although many also provide treatments (which primarily involve psychological interventions of one kind or another)
