ABNORMALITY
Definitions of Abnormality
Statistical Infrequency: a behaviour/characteristic is seen as abnormal if it is statistically
uncommon and rare
Failure to Function Adequately: a person may be considered ‘abnormal’ at the point when
they can no longer cope with the demands of everyday life
Deviation from Ideal Mental Health: Abnormal behaviour should be defined by the absence
of particular ideal characteristics (the 6 principles of ideal mental health proposed by
Jahoda)
Deviation from social norms: a person’s thinking or behaviour is classified as abnormal if it
violates the unwritten rules about what is expected or acceptable behaviour in a particular
social group
Evaluations of the definitions of abnormality
Failure to Function Adequately
+ represents a threshold for help: around 25% of people in the UK will experience a mental
health problem in any given year. It tends to be at the point that we cease to function
adequately that people seek professional help, and this therefore means that there is a clear
boundary as to when we need help, and that treatment and services can be targeted to
those who need them most
- discrimination and social control: not having a job or permanent address may seem
like failing to function adequately however people with alternative lifestyles choose
to live ‘off-grid’ and those who favour high-risk activities could be deemed as a
danger to themselves. It can be very hard to say when someone is really failing to
function and when they have simply chosen to deviate from social norms. People
who make unusual choices are at risk of being labelled abnormal and their freedom
of choice restricted
+failure to function can be normal: there are some circumstances in which most of us fail to
cope for a time e.g., bereavement (grief, loss). It may be unfair to give someone a label that
may cause them future problems just because they react to different circumstances.
Deviation from Ideal Mental Health
+ a comprehensive definition: the concept means that mental health can be discussed with
a range of professionals with differing views e.g., a medically trained psychiatrist may focus
on symptoms whereas a humanistic counsellor may be more interested in self-actualisation.
It includes a range of criteria for distinguishing mental health from mental disorder and this
means that ideal mental health provides a checklist against which we can assess ourselves
and others and discuss psychological issues with a range of professionals
- may be culture bound; there is lots of variation in the value placed on personal
independence e.g., this is high in Germany but low in Italy. Some criteria for ideal
mental health are firmly located in the context of the US and Europe. It is difficult to
apply the concept of ideal mental health from one culture to another. Very few of us
attain all the criteria and probably none of us achieve all of them at the same time
and it can be disheartening to see an impossible set of standards to live up to.
, Statistical Infrequency
+ real-life application: used in the Beck Depression Inventory to indicate severe depression.
The value of statistical infrequency criterion is useful in diagnostic and assessment processes
- just because the characteristic is unusual, doesn’t mean it’s undesirable: e.g., a high
IQ is considered abnormal, a low depression score is abnormal. Being unusual or at
one end of a psychological spectrum does not necessarily make someone abnormal.
It is never sufficient as the sole basis for defining abnormality
-it’s not a sole explanation some people benefit from being classed as abnormal.
Someone with a low IQ will receive support services, which is likely to benefit them, but
it may not, which causes a social stigma attached to the labels of ‘abnormality’
Deviation from social norms
+real world application: the key defining characteristics of antisocial personality disorder is
the failure to conform to culturally acceptable ethical behaviour i.e., recklessness,
aggression etc. Such norms play a part in the diagnosis of schizotypal personality disorder,
and this shows that the deviation from social norms criterion has value in psychiatry.
- cultural relativism: hearing voices, in some cultures, may be the social norm but in
the UK, this is seen as a sign of abnormality. the variability between social norms in
different cultures and even different situations. A person from one cultural group
may label someone from another group as abnormal using their standards rather
than the person’s standards. This makes it difficult to judge deviation from social
norms across different cultures
Definitions of Abnormality
Statistical Infrequency: a behaviour/characteristic is seen as abnormal if it is statistically
uncommon and rare
Failure to Function Adequately: a person may be considered ‘abnormal’ at the point when
they can no longer cope with the demands of everyday life
Deviation from Ideal Mental Health: Abnormal behaviour should be defined by the absence
of particular ideal characteristics (the 6 principles of ideal mental health proposed by
Jahoda)
Deviation from social norms: a person’s thinking or behaviour is classified as abnormal if it
violates the unwritten rules about what is expected or acceptable behaviour in a particular
social group
Evaluations of the definitions of abnormality
Failure to Function Adequately
+ represents a threshold for help: around 25% of people in the UK will experience a mental
health problem in any given year. It tends to be at the point that we cease to function
adequately that people seek professional help, and this therefore means that there is a clear
boundary as to when we need help, and that treatment and services can be targeted to
those who need them most
- discrimination and social control: not having a job or permanent address may seem
like failing to function adequately however people with alternative lifestyles choose
to live ‘off-grid’ and those who favour high-risk activities could be deemed as a
danger to themselves. It can be very hard to say when someone is really failing to
function and when they have simply chosen to deviate from social norms. People
who make unusual choices are at risk of being labelled abnormal and their freedom
of choice restricted
+failure to function can be normal: there are some circumstances in which most of us fail to
cope for a time e.g., bereavement (grief, loss). It may be unfair to give someone a label that
may cause them future problems just because they react to different circumstances.
Deviation from Ideal Mental Health
+ a comprehensive definition: the concept means that mental health can be discussed with
a range of professionals with differing views e.g., a medically trained psychiatrist may focus
on symptoms whereas a humanistic counsellor may be more interested in self-actualisation.
It includes a range of criteria for distinguishing mental health from mental disorder and this
means that ideal mental health provides a checklist against which we can assess ourselves
and others and discuss psychological issues with a range of professionals
- may be culture bound; there is lots of variation in the value placed on personal
independence e.g., this is high in Germany but low in Italy. Some criteria for ideal
mental health are firmly located in the context of the US and Europe. It is difficult to
apply the concept of ideal mental health from one culture to another. Very few of us
attain all the criteria and probably none of us achieve all of them at the same time
and it can be disheartening to see an impossible set of standards to live up to.
, Statistical Infrequency
+ real-life application: used in the Beck Depression Inventory to indicate severe depression.
The value of statistical infrequency criterion is useful in diagnostic and assessment processes
- just because the characteristic is unusual, doesn’t mean it’s undesirable: e.g., a high
IQ is considered abnormal, a low depression score is abnormal. Being unusual or at
one end of a psychological spectrum does not necessarily make someone abnormal.
It is never sufficient as the sole basis for defining abnormality
-it’s not a sole explanation some people benefit from being classed as abnormal.
Someone with a low IQ will receive support services, which is likely to benefit them, but
it may not, which causes a social stigma attached to the labels of ‘abnormality’
Deviation from social norms
+real world application: the key defining characteristics of antisocial personality disorder is
the failure to conform to culturally acceptable ethical behaviour i.e., recklessness,
aggression etc. Such norms play a part in the diagnosis of schizotypal personality disorder,
and this shows that the deviation from social norms criterion has value in psychiatry.
- cultural relativism: hearing voices, in some cultures, may be the social norm but in
the UK, this is seen as a sign of abnormality. the variability between social norms in
different cultures and even different situations. A person from one cultural group
may label someone from another group as abnormal using their standards rather
than the person’s standards. This makes it difficult to judge deviation from social
norms across different cultures
