BMT - Definitions of abnormality

Question 1

What is deviation from social norms?

Answer 1

Unwritten rules for acceptable behavior (i.e. not wearing pants on your head in public)

abnormal behavior is behavior that goes against social norms

Question 2

What are strengths of deviation from social norms?

Answer 2

• Protects society
  protects society from the effects an individual’s abnormal behavior can have on others
• Social Dimension
  the definition gives social dimensions to the idea of abnormality which offers alternative to the isolated ‘sick-in-the-head’ individual

Question 3

What are limitations of deviation from social norms?

Answer 3

• Change over time
• Individualism
  those who do not conform to social norms may not be abnormal but eccentric and not problematic
• Cultural differences

Question 4

What is the failure to function adequately definition?

Answer 4

Rosenhan and Seligman -

sees individuals as abnormal when their behavior suggests that they cannot cope with everyday life.

Question 5

What are the 7 features of personal dysfunction?

Answer 5

observer discomfort 
personal distress
irrationality
unpredictability 
manipulative behavior 
violation of moral standards 
unconventionality 
(OPIUM VU)

Question 6

What is personal distress?

Answer 6

a key feature of abnormality. includes depression and anxiety disorders

Question 7

What is manipulative behavior?

Answer 7

behavior stopping individuals from attaining life goals, both socially and occupationally

Question 8

What is unpredictability?

Answer 8

Displaying unexpected behaviors characterized by loss of control, like attempting suicide after failing a test.

Question 9

What is observer discomfort?

Answer 9

displaying behavior causing discomfort to others

Question 10

What is violation of moral standards?

Answer 10

displaying behavior violating society’s moral standards

Question 11

What is unconventionality?

Answer 11

displaying unconventional behaviors

Question 12

What do clinicians use to asses how well an individual copes with everyday life and what does it rate?

Answer 12

Global Assessment of Functioning scale (GAF)

rates their level of social, occupational and psychological functioning

Question 13

What are some strengths of the FFA definition ?

Answer 13

• Personal Perspective
  recognizes the personal experience of sufferers and thus allows mental disorders to be regarded from the perception of the individuals suffering them.
• Assesses degree of abnormality
  as the GAF is scored on a continuous scale, it allows clinicians to see the degree to which individuals are abnormal and thus decide who needs psychiatric help

Question 14

What are some limitations of the FFA definition?

Answer 14

• Abnormality is not always accompanied by dysfunction
  psychopaths can cause great harm yet still appear normal (i.e. Harold Shipman murdered at least 215 of his patients seemed to be respectable by was abnormal)
• Distress to others
  behavior may cause distress to other people and be regarded as dysfunctional while the person in question feels no distress, like Stephen Gough, the naked rambler

Question 15

What is deviation from the ideal mental health definition?

Answer 15

The idea is that there are various theoretical descriptions of ‘normality’ and if someone does not fit within this theoretical idea of normality their behavior is abnormal.

Question 16

What are the 6 characteristics of ideal mental health stated by Jahoda?

Answer 16

self-actualization
positive attitude towards oneself 
environmental mastery
autonomy 
resisting stress
accurate perception of reality 
 (SPEARA)

Question 17

What is positive attitude towards oneself?

Answer 17

Having self-respect and a positive self-concept

Question 18

What is self-actualization?

Answer 18

Experiencing personal growth and development

Question 19

What is autonomy?

Answer 19

being independent, self-reliant and able to make personal decisions

Question 20

What is resisting stress?

Answer 20

having effective coping strategies and being able to cope with everyday anxiety-provoking situations

Question 21

What is accurate perception of reality?

Answer 21

Perceiving the world in a non-distorted fashion. Having an objective and realistic view of the world

Question 22

What is environmental mastery?

Answer 22

Being competent in all aspects of life and able to meet the demands of any situations. Having the flexibility to adapt to changing life circumstances

Question 23

What makes an individual more abnormal than others?

Answer 23

The more characteristics individuals fail to meet, the more abnormal they are

Question 24

What are strengths of the ideal mental health definition?

Answer 24

Targets areas of dysfunction - allows targeting of which areas to work on when treating abnormality.

Positivity - emphasises positive achievements rather than failures and distress and stresses a positive approach to mental problems by focusing on what is desirable

Question 25

What are weaknesses of the ideal mental health definition?

Answer 25

Over demanding criteria - most people do not meet all the ideals. Therefore according to the definition, most people are abnormal. It is more ideals than actualities

Changes over time- perception of reality changes, seeing visions was a good sign of religion but now schizophrenia

Cultural Variation - not culturally relative and should not be used to judge others of different cultures

Question 26

What is the statistical infrequency definition?

Answer 26

the idea here is that behaviours that are statistically rare should be seen as abnormal

Question 27

What is considered to be the ‘abnormal distribution’?

Answer 27

Individuals who fall outside 5 per cent of a population (two standard deviation points away from mean)

Question 28

What are the percentages on the standard deviation graph?

Answer 28

0 - 1 = 34 per cent
1 - 2 = 13.5 per cent
2 - 3 = 2.5 per cent

Question 29

What are the strengths of the statistical infrequency definition?

Answer 29

Objective - once a way of collecting data about characteristics and a ‘cut-off point’ has been agreed, it becomes an objective way of deciding who is abnormal

Based on real data - definition relies on real, unbiased data and so again is an objective means of defining abnormalities

Question 30

What are the weaknesses of the statistical infrequency definition?

Answer 30

Not all infrequent behaviours are abnormal - some rare characteristics are desirable rather than being undesirable, for example a high IQ

Not all abnormal behaviours are infrequent - some statistically frequent ‘normal’ behaviours are actually abnormal i.e. depression

Cultural factors - doesn’t consider cultural factors. What is statistically normal in one culture may not be in another. This leads to others judging people of one culture by the statistical norms of another culture