definitions of abnormalities Flashcards
what does it mean when someone has a failure to function adequately
it occurs when someone is unable to cope with ordinary demands of day to day living
what does it mean when someone deviates from ideal mental health
it occurs when someone does not meet a set of criteria for good mental health
what is deviating from social norms
it concerns behaviour that is different from the accepted standards of behaviour in a community/ society
what is statistical infrequency
occurs when an individual has a less common characteristic, e.g. being more depressed or less intelligent than most of the population
what are the different ways of defining abnormalities
- statistical infrequency
- deviation from social norm
- failure to function adequately
- deviation from ideal mental health
what is abnormality in terms of statistical infrequency
this says that abnormal behaviour are those that are extremely rare, that is those behaviour that are found in very few people .
Therefore, this is a mathematical method for defining abnormality
what is the mathematical element of statistical infrequency
the mathemeatical element oof this definition is about the idea that human atrributes fall into a normal distribution within the population
This mean that there is a central average, or mean, and the rest of the population fall symmetrically above and below the mean
why is standard deviation important for statistical infrequency
standard deviation as a measure informs us how far scores fall on either side away from the mean
when would the statistical approach in defining abnormalities be useful
the statistical approach comes into its own when we are dealing with characteristics that can measure
e.g. intelligence
example: IQ and intellectual diversity (statistical diversity)
we know that any human characteristic, the majority of people’s scores will cluster around the average, and that the further we go above/ below that average, the fewer people will attain that score
the average IQ is set at 100
68% (most people) have an IQ in the range from 85 to 115
]2% have a score below 70
these individuals scoring below 70 are unusual/ “abnormal” and what are liable to receive a diagnosis of psychological disorder intellectual disability disorder
what is abnormality in the context of deviation from social norms
most notice people whose behaviour is a deviation form social norms, i.e. when a person behaves in a way that is different from how we expect to behave
-groups of people (hence “social”) choose to define behaviour as abnormal on their basis that it offends their sense of what is “acceptable” or the norm
We are making a collective judgement as a society about what is right
why are norms different for different people
social norms may be different for each generation and every culture
so there are relatively few behaviours that would be considered universally abnormal on the basis that the breach social norms
e. g. homosexuality continues to be viewed as abnormal
(illegal) in some cultures
example:antisocial personality disorder (deviation form social norms)
a person with antisocial personality disorder (psychopathy) is: impulsive
aggressive
irresponsible
according to the DSN (the manual used by psychiatrists to diagnose mental disorder)
one important symptom of anti social 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 saying that a psychopath is abnormal because they don’t conform to our moral standards
psychopathic behaviour would be considered abnormal in a wide range of cultures
what is abnormality in terms of failure to function adequately
a person may cross the line between “normal” and “abnormal” at the point when they can no longer cope with the demands of everyday life and they fail to function adequately
we might decide that someone is not functioning adequately whey they are unable to maintain basic standards of nutrition and hygiene
We might also consider that they are no longer functioning adequately if they cannot hold down a job/ maintain relationships with people around them
when is someone failing to function adequately according to David Rosehan and Martin Seiligman (1989)
they proposed some signs that can be used to determine when someone is not coping
e. g.
1. when a person no longer conforms to standard interperonal rules, e.g. maintaining eye contact and respect personal space
- when a person experiences severe personal distress
- when a person’s behaviour becomes irrational or dangerous to themselves or others
