Defining abnormality

Question 1

Define statistical deviation?

Answer 1

Occurs when an individual has a less common characteristic, e.g. be more depressed or less intelligent than most of the population,

Question 2

Define deviation from social norms?

Answer 2

Concerns behaviour that is different from the accepted standards of behaviour in a community society

Question 3

What is meant by statistical deviation?

Answer 3

Refers to the number of times we observe it - According to statistical deviation any relatively unusual behaviour or characteristic could be thought of as normal and any behaviour that is different to it is abnormal.

Question 4

What is an example of statistical deviation?

Answer 4

IQ (it’s easy to use statistical approach when dealing with things that can be reliably measured such as intelligence). The average IQ is 100 and most people are in the region of 85-115 and those individuals below 70 are very unusual or abnormal and will likely receive a diagnosis of a psychological disorder ( intellectual disability order)

Question 5

What is meant by deviation from social norms?

Answer 5

Most of us notice people whose behaviour deviates from social norms. Groups of people choose to define behaviour as abnormal based on their idea of what Is acceptable or the norm

Question 6

How may social norms differ?

Answer 6

They may be different for every generation or in every culture so there are very few behaviours that would be considered universally abnormal on the basis of social norms e.g. homosexuality continues to be viewed as abnormal in some cultures and was considered abnormal in our society in the past

Question 7

Why is antisocial personality disorder considered abnormal according to social norms?

Answer 7

They are impulsive, aggressive and irresponsible and according to the DSM -5 one of the important symptoms is an absence of morals so social internal standards associated with failure to conform to lawful or country normative ethical behaviour are apparent.

Question 8

Why is a psychopath abnormal?

Answer 8

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.

Question 9

Why is real life application a strength of statistical deviation?

Answer 9

It had an application in the diagnosis of intellectual disability disorder. All assessment of patients with mental disorders include measurement of how severe the symptoms are compared to social norms so it is a useful part of clinical assessment

Question 10

What is a key weakness of statistical deviation?

Answer 10

Unusual characteristics can be positive - IQ scores over 130 are just as abnormal as those under 70 but we wouldn’t view super intelligence as a condition that needs treatment. Just because few people display certain behaviours is doesn’t mean it requires treatment to return to normal - for this reason SD would never be used alone to make a diagnosis

Question 11

What is another problem with statistical deviation?

Answer 11

Not everyone benefits from a label - if someone is living a happy and fulfilled life there is no benefit in labelling them abnormal. They may not necessarily need a diagnosis and calling them abnormal may affect the way others view them and the way they view their selves.

Question 12

What is a strength of deviation from social norms?

Answer 12

It has a real life application in the diagnosis of personality disorder so there is a place for deviation from social norms and what is normal/abnormal

Question 13

Why can’t deviation from social norms ever be the sole way of defining abnormality?

Answer 13

There are other factors to consider e.g. the distress to other people resulting from personality disorder

Question 14

Why is cultural relativism a weakness of deviation from social norms?

Answer 14

Social norms vary massively from one generation to the next and from one community to another so what one cultural groups view of abnormal is based on their standards rather than the standards of the person behaving in that way - this creates problems for people from one culture living within another culture group

Question 15

How can deviation from social norms lead to human rights abuses?

Answer 15

Most psychologists suggest that some of our modern day categories of a mental disorder are really abuses of people’s right to be different. e.g. nymphomania

Question 16

In what way is social norms more useful than statistical deviation?

Answer 16

It includes the issue of desirability of behaviour whereas statistical doesn’t take this into account e.g. genius is statistically abnormal but we wouldn’t want to include it in our definition of abnormal.

Question 17

What is failure to function adequately?

Answer 17

A person may cross the line between normal and abnormal and they fail to function adequately. We may say that someone is not functioning adequately when they aren’t able to maintain basic standards of nutrition and hygiene.

Question 18

What signs did Han and Seligmann (1989) propose that could be used to determine when someone is not coping?

Answer 18

When a person doesn’t conform to standard personal rules
When a person experiences severe personal distress
When a persons behaviour becomes irrational or dangerous to themselves and others

Question 19

What is deviation from ideal mental health?

Answer 19

A different way to look at normality and abnormality is to ignore the issue of what makes someone abnormal and instead think about what makes them normal - aka we consider deviation from ideal mental health

Question 20

What does ideal mental health look like according to Jahoda (1958)?

Answer 20

We have no symptoms of distress
We are rational and can perceive ourselves accurately
We self actualise
We can cope with stress
We have a realistic view of the world
We have good self-esteem and lack guilt
We are independent of other people
We can successfully work, love and enjoy our leisure
(Inevitably there is some overlap with failure to function adequately)

Question 21

What has changed over time regarding paraphilia’s?

Answer 21

Psychologists have become less inclined to classify people as normal on the basis of one definition e.g. used to define paraphilias due to basis it was the deviation from social norms so when homosexuality was less accepted it was classified as a paraphilia and this would not happen now

Question 22

Why would this not happen now?

Answer 22

In the DMS -5 system paraphilia is only classified as a mental disorder if they involve harm or distress to the person themselves or others, so exhibitionism, paedophilia are still considered abnormal

Question 23

Why is the patients perspective a strength of failure to function adequately?

Answer 23

It does not attempt to include the subjective experience of the individual but it captures the experience of many who need help making it a useful criterion for abnormality

Question 24

What is it difficult to assess in failure to function?

Answer 24

Distress

Question 25

Is failure to function the same as deviation?

Answer 25

It can be hard to see the difference e.g. not having a job may be seen as a sign of failing to function adequately but this isn’t the case for people with alternative lifestyles

Question 26

Why are subjective judgements a problem for failure to function?

Answer 26

To assess this someone has to gauge whether a patient is distressed or distressing - some patients may be under stress but not seen as suffering - however there are methods for making these judgements as objective as possible.

Question 27

What is a key strength of deviation from ideal mental health?

Answer 27

It is very comprehensive so covers a broad range of criteria for mental health

Question 28

Why is cultural relativism a weakness of deviation from ideal mental health?

Answer 28

Some of the ideas in Johoda’s classification of ideal mental health are specific to Western European and north American cultures so couldn’t be generalised to other places e.g. the emphasis on personal achievement

Question 29

In what way does Jahoda’s criteria set an unrealistically high standard for mental health?

Answer 29

Few of us attain his criteria and none of us achieve all of them at the same time however it does make it clear to people in which areas they would benefit seeking treatment from

Question 30

What is the final weakness to deviation from ideal mental health?

Answer 30

Judging someone’s feelings and resultantly giving them a label may add to their problems e.g. its very normal to get depressed after the loss of a job etc and the person may benefit from seeking psychological help but labels may then be attached.