Abnormality:deviation from social norms and deviation from ideal mental health. Flashcards
Define deviation from social norms
A social norm is an unwritten expectation of behaviour that can vary from culture to culture and change over time.
Additionally what is acceptable in one context may not be acceptable in another and people who deviate from these societal expectations may be seen as anbnormal or social deviants
Give examples of norms that vary between cultures
Acceptance of homosexuality, Face and hair covering, Level of modesty and PDA/Emotion
What is one posotive evaluation of defining abnormality according to social norms (not so good one)
-One strength of deviation from social norms is that It does not impose a western view of abnormality on other non western cultures.
- For this reason, it is argued diagnosing abnormality according to social norms is not ethnocentric; it respects the cultural differences between societies
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What is one criticism of deviation from social norms (Lacking temporal validity) (5)
-One limitation of using social norms as a definition of abnormality is that it can lack temporal validity.
-This is because, Social norms vary from one generation to another.
-For example, The recent generation is becoming more accepting of LGBTQ+ ideas and more and more people are coming out
-Whereas the older generation would probably frown upon the idea of LBTQ+ and see it as an abnormal behaviour
-Therefore, using deviation from social norms can be slightly outdated/updated depending on what generation you’re born in as nowadays societies are becoming more accepting.
Limitation of social nporms as it can lead to abuse (5)
-One major limitation of using deviation from social norms definition is that it can lead to human rights abuses.
-Too much reliance on deviation from social norms to understand abnormality can
also lead to systematic abuse of human rights.
-Looking at the historical examples of deviation from social norms such as drapetomania-Black slaves running away- and nymphomania-Hunger for sex- it is pretty clear that these
diagnoses were really there to maintain control over minority ethnic groups and women.
-The classifications appear ridiculous nowadays – but only because our social norms
have changed.
-More radical psychologists suggest that some of our modern categories of mental disorder are really abuses of people’s rights to be different.
Criticism of devation from social norms Culural relativism (4)
-One limitation with using deviation from social norms to define behaviour as
abnormal is that social norms vary tremendously from one community to another.
- This means, for example, that a person from one cultural group may label someone from another culture as behaving abnormally
according to their standards rather than the standards of the person behaving that way.
-For example, hearing voices is socially acceptable in some cultures but would be seen as a sign of mental abnormality in the UK. -This creates problems for people from one
culture living within another culture group.
-Meaning that deviation from social norms cannot be used as a sole definition for abnormality
Define Deviation from ideal mental health (DIMH)
A humanistic perspective, focusing on ways to improve and become a better person rather than dysfunction or deficit.
What are the 6 features of ideal mental health in DIMH
Environmental mastery: The ability to adapt and thrive in new situations
Autonomy: The ability to act independently and trust in one’s own abilities
Resistance to stress: the internal strength to cope with anxiety caused by daily life
Self actualisation:The ability to reach one’s potential through personal growth
Positive attitude towards oneself: Characterised by high self esteem and self respect
Accurate perception of reality: The ability to see the world as it is without being distorted by personal biases
What is an example of deviation from social norms
A person with antisocial personality disorder (psychopathy) is impulsive, aggressive and irresponsible. According to the DSM-5 (the manual used by psychiatrists to diagnose mental disorder) one important symptom of antisocial personality disorder is an ‘absence of prosocial internal standards associated with failure to conform to lawful or culturally normative ethical behaviour’.
In other words we are making the social judgement that a psychopath is abnormal because they don’t conform to our moral standards. Psychopathic behaviour would be considered abnormal in a very wide range of cultures.
