Psychopathology
Definitions of abnormality
Statistical infrequency
Easiest way to determine
Any common behaviour or characteristic can be thought of as ‘normal’ and any
unusual behaviour as abnormal – has changed over time.
e.g. IQ and intellectual disability disorder
- useful when dealing with characteristics that can be reliably measured e.g.
intelligence
- in any human characteristic, the majority of people’s scores will cluster around the
average and the further we go from it, the fewer people will attain it : normal
distribution
Evaluation:
Real-world application
o Useful in clinical practice – formal diagnosis and severity of an
individual’s symptoms
o Example of statistical infrequency used in an assessment tool is the Beck
depression inventory (BDI)
Face validity
o Abnormality is when something does not usually happen
Objective
o Mathematical nature
o No opinion involved so no bias
Unusual characteristics can be positive
o Wouldn’t think of someone as being abnormal for having an abnormally
good level of intellect for example
o One end of the psychological spectrum is not necessarily bad
o Never sufficient as the sole basis for defining abnormality
Cultural differences
Inflexible
o Contradiction between abnormal behaviour according to diagnostic
manuals and criteria for defining mental health issues
Abnormal behaviours can occur frequently
o E.g. mental health problems
Benefits vs problems
o Some people benefit from being classed as abnormal e.g. access to
support services for help
o Not all statistically unusual people benefit from labels – social stigma
attached to labels
Deviation from social norms
, When a person behaves differently from how we would expect according to
societal standards of behaviour
Groups of people choose to define behaviour as abnormal on the basis that I
offends the sense of what is ‘acceptable’ of the norm
Make a collective judgement as a society on what is ‘right’
They are culture-specific… differ between generations and cultures
- Very few behaviours are abnormal for breaching social norms e.g.
homosexuality
e.g. antisocial personality disorder
- makes someone aggressive, impulsive and irresponsible
- according to the DSM-5 (manual used to diagnose mental disorders) a symptom of
antisocial personality disorder is ‘absence of prosocial internal standards associated
with failure to conform to lawful and culturally normative ethical behaviour –
psychopaths are abnormal because they don’t conform to our moral standards
Evaluation:
Real-world application
o Used in clinical practice
o Key defining characteristic of antisocial personality disorder is failure to
conform to culturally acceptable ethical behaviour
o Signs of the disorder are all deviations from social norms
o Schizotypal personality disorder – norms play a part in diagnosis –
‘strange’ is used to characterise their thinking, behaviour and appearance
o Can help the patient
Cultural and situational relativism
o Differing standards of ‘normality’
o E.g. hearing voices is normal in some cultures
o Aggressive and deceitful behaviour in the context of family life is more
socially unacceptable than in the context of corporate deal-making
Human rights abuses
o Carries the risk of unfair labelling and leaves people open to human rights
abuses
o Historically: nymphomania – used to control women, drapetomania – used
to control slaves and avoid debate
PARAPHILIAS
- Psychologists have become less inclined to classify people using a single
definition
- E.g. paraphilias used to be defined as deviations from social norms
- In the DSM-5 system they are only classified as mental disorders if they involve
harm or distress to the person themselves or other people
Flexibility
o Dependent on situation and age
o Range of factors taken into account
Used to justify removal of unwanted persons from society
, o What is normal changes temporally
o E.g. the DSM used to consider homosexuality a disorder
Failure to function adequately
- Person becomes abnormal when they cannot cope with the demands of
everyday life
- They cannot maintain basic standards of nutrition and hygiene, hold down a job
or maintain relationships
- May do irrational things that pose a danger to themselves or others
Rosenhan and Seligman (1989) – signs that someone is not coping are:
1. When a person no longer conforms to standard interpersonal rules e.g. making
eye contact and respecting personal space
2. When a person experiences severe personal distress
3. When a person’s behaviour becomes irrational or dangerous to themselves or
others
e.g. intellectual disability disorder
- diagnosis would not be made solely on the basis of having a low IQ – they must also
be failing to function adequately
Evaluation:
Sensible threshold for professional help
o Around 25% of the UK will experience a mental health problem in any
given year according to Mind
o Many people continue despite severe symptoms
o Treatment and services can be targeted to those who need them most –
those who are unable to function adequately may seek professional help
or be referred by others
Behaviour is observable
o Can be seen by others around the individual
o Useful if they are incapable of helping themselves
Discrimination and social control
o Easy to label non-standard lifestyle choices as abnormal
o In practice it is hard to differentiate between deviating from social norms
and failing to function adequately
o Living ‘off-grid’, favouring high-risk leisure activities, unusual spiritual
practices e.g. base jumpers, spiritualists, new age travellers
o At risk of being unfairly labelled abnormal and their freedom of choice
may be restricted
COUNTERPOINT
o Acknowledges experience of the patient
o Whether they are suffering
Failure to function may not be abnormal
o E.g. in cases of bereavement
o May be unfair to give someone a label that may cause them future
problems just because they react to difficult circumstances
Definitions of abnormality
Statistical infrequency
Easiest way to determine
Any common behaviour or characteristic can be thought of as ‘normal’ and any
unusual behaviour as abnormal – has changed over time.
e.g. IQ and intellectual disability disorder
- useful when dealing with characteristics that can be reliably measured e.g.
intelligence
- in any human characteristic, the majority of people’s scores will cluster around the
average and the further we go from it, the fewer people will attain it : normal
distribution
Evaluation:
Real-world application
o Useful in clinical practice – formal diagnosis and severity of an
individual’s symptoms
o Example of statistical infrequency used in an assessment tool is the Beck
depression inventory (BDI)
Face validity
o Abnormality is when something does not usually happen
Objective
o Mathematical nature
o No opinion involved so no bias
Unusual characteristics can be positive
o Wouldn’t think of someone as being abnormal for having an abnormally
good level of intellect for example
o One end of the psychological spectrum is not necessarily bad
o Never sufficient as the sole basis for defining abnormality
Cultural differences
Inflexible
o Contradiction between abnormal behaviour according to diagnostic
manuals and criteria for defining mental health issues
Abnormal behaviours can occur frequently
o E.g. mental health problems
Benefits vs problems
o Some people benefit from being classed as abnormal e.g. access to
support services for help
o Not all statistically unusual people benefit from labels – social stigma
attached to labels
Deviation from social norms
, When a person behaves differently from how we would expect according to
societal standards of behaviour
Groups of people choose to define behaviour as abnormal on the basis that I
offends the sense of what is ‘acceptable’ of the norm
Make a collective judgement as a society on what is ‘right’
They are culture-specific… differ between generations and cultures
- Very few behaviours are abnormal for breaching social norms e.g.
homosexuality
e.g. antisocial personality disorder
- makes someone aggressive, impulsive and irresponsible
- according to the DSM-5 (manual used to diagnose mental disorders) a symptom of
antisocial personality disorder is ‘absence of prosocial internal standards associated
with failure to conform to lawful and culturally normative ethical behaviour –
psychopaths are abnormal because they don’t conform to our moral standards
Evaluation:
Real-world application
o Used in clinical practice
o Key defining characteristic of antisocial personality disorder is failure to
conform to culturally acceptable ethical behaviour
o Signs of the disorder are all deviations from social norms
o Schizotypal personality disorder – norms play a part in diagnosis –
‘strange’ is used to characterise their thinking, behaviour and appearance
o Can help the patient
Cultural and situational relativism
o Differing standards of ‘normality’
o E.g. hearing voices is normal in some cultures
o Aggressive and deceitful behaviour in the context of family life is more
socially unacceptable than in the context of corporate deal-making
Human rights abuses
o Carries the risk of unfair labelling and leaves people open to human rights
abuses
o Historically: nymphomania – used to control women, drapetomania – used
to control slaves and avoid debate
PARAPHILIAS
- Psychologists have become less inclined to classify people using a single
definition
- E.g. paraphilias used to be defined as deviations from social norms
- In the DSM-5 system they are only classified as mental disorders if they involve
harm or distress to the person themselves or other people
Flexibility
o Dependent on situation and age
o Range of factors taken into account
Used to justify removal of unwanted persons from society
, o What is normal changes temporally
o E.g. the DSM used to consider homosexuality a disorder
Failure to function adequately
- Person becomes abnormal when they cannot cope with the demands of
everyday life
- They cannot maintain basic standards of nutrition and hygiene, hold down a job
or maintain relationships
- May do irrational things that pose a danger to themselves or others
Rosenhan and Seligman (1989) – signs that someone is not coping are:
1. When a person no longer conforms to standard interpersonal rules e.g. making
eye contact and respecting personal space
2. When a person experiences severe personal distress
3. When a person’s behaviour becomes irrational or dangerous to themselves or
others
e.g. intellectual disability disorder
- diagnosis would not be made solely on the basis of having a low IQ – they must also
be failing to function adequately
Evaluation:
Sensible threshold for professional help
o Around 25% of the UK will experience a mental health problem in any
given year according to Mind
o Many people continue despite severe symptoms
o Treatment and services can be targeted to those who need them most –
those who are unable to function adequately may seek professional help
or be referred by others
Behaviour is observable
o Can be seen by others around the individual
o Useful if they are incapable of helping themselves
Discrimination and social control
o Easy to label non-standard lifestyle choices as abnormal
o In practice it is hard to differentiate between deviating from social norms
and failing to function adequately
o Living ‘off-grid’, favouring high-risk leisure activities, unusual spiritual
practices e.g. base jumpers, spiritualists, new age travellers
o At risk of being unfairly labelled abnormal and their freedom of choice
may be restricted
COUNTERPOINT
o Acknowledges experience of the patient
o Whether they are suffering
Failure to function may not be abnormal
o E.g. in cases of bereavement
o May be unfair to give someone a label that may cause them future
problems just because they react to difficult circumstances
