definitions of abnormality (1)

Question 1

what is statistical infrequency?

Answer 1

when an individual has a less common characteristic

• eg. being more depressed or less intelligent than most of the population

Question 2

how is statistical infrequency linked to standard deviations of the mean?

Answer 2

• approximately 95% of data falls within two standard deviations of the mean
• those in the bottom or top 2.5% of results would be considered abnormal (ie. those that are SD3 from the mean, median and mode)

Question 3

what is the mean, median and mode like in normally distributed data?

Answer 3

they are all very close together, if not the same

Question 4

what does right-skewed distribution show?

Answer 4

• positive skewness
• curve moves to the left but skew is actually to the right
• the mode is a lower value than the mean and median

Question 5

what does left-skewed distribution show?

Answer 5

• negative skewness
• curve moves to the right but skew is actually to the left
• the mode is a higher value than the mean and median

Question 6

evaluation of statistical infrequency: real-world application

Answer 6

• statistical infrequency is used in clinical practice as part of formal diagnosis and as a way to assess the severity of the individuals’ symptoms
• eg. diagnosis of intellectual disability disorder requires an IQ of below 70 (bottom 2%)
• beck depression inventory (BDI) can be used to indicate depression; a score of 30+ (top 5% of respondents) is widely interpreted as indicating severe depression

Question 7

evaluation of statistical infrequency: infrequent characteristics are not necessarily negative

Answer 7

• for every person with an IQ below 70 there is another with an IQ above 130 but we would not think of someone as abnormal for having a high IQ
• similarly, we would not think of someone with a very low depression score on the BDI as abnormal
• therefore, even though statistical infrequency can form part of assessment and diagnostic procedure, it is never sufficient as the sole basis for defining abnormality

Question 8

evaluation of statistical infrequency: not all statistically unusual people benefit from labels

Answer 8

• someone with low IQ who can cope with their chosen lifestyle would not benefit from a label
• there is a social stigma attached to such labels

Question 9

evaluation of statistical infrequency: useful part of clinical assessment

Answer 9

all assessments of patients with mental disorders include some kind of measurement of how severe their symptoms are compared to statistical norms

Question 10

evaluation of statistical infrequency: objective and standardised measure

Answer 10

reliability can be assessed and diagnosis should be less subject to bias

Question 11

evaluation of statistical infrequency: cultural factors

Answer 11

• this definitions does not take into account the preferences of each individual culture
• we can end up judging all people based on the statistical norms of a westernised culture

Question 12

evaluation of statistical infrequency: not all abnormal behaviours are infrequent

Answer 12

eg. depression is a common problem in today’s society so would fall within 2 SDs of the mean so it would go unnoticed by this definition

Question 13

what does deviation from social norms describe?

Answer 13

• behaviour that is different from the accepted standards of behaviour in a community or society
• people have defined “abnormality” on the basis that it breaches their sense of what is deemed acceptable or the norm

Question 14

norms are specific to the culture we live in

Answer 14

• relatively few behaviours are deemed universally abnormal on the basis that they break social norms
• this is because cultures vary on their norms and this changes from generation to generation
• norms are culturally relative
• eg. homosexuality was considered abnormal in our culture in the past and continues to be viewed as abnormal and illegal in some cultures eg. in april 2019, brunei introduced new laws that make sex between men and offence punishable by stoning to death

Question 15

evaluation of deviation from social norms: real world application in clinical practice

Answer 15

• eg. key defining characteristic of antisocial personality disorder is the failure to conform to culturally acceptable ethical behaviour ie. recklessness, aggression, violating the rights of others and deceitfulness
  > these signs of the disorder are all deviation from social norms
• such norms also play a part in the diagnosis of schizotypal personality disorder, where the term ‘strange’ is used to characterise the thinking, behaviour and appearance of people with the disorder
• therefore, deviation from social norms criterion has value in psychiatry
• also easy to notice so leads of a greater likelihood of treatment and support

Question 16

evaluation of deviation from social norms: cultural and situational relativsim

Answer 16

• social norms vary from one culture to another
• eg. hearing voices is the norm in some cultures, as is talking to the dead but these are seen as indicators of psychological abnormality in many cultures
• even within one cultural context, social norms differ from one situation to another
• eg. aggressive and deceitful behaviour in the context of family life is more socially unacceptable than in the context of corporate deal-making
• therefore, it is difficult to judge deviation from social norms across different situations and cultures

Question 17

evaluation of deviation from social norms: human rights abuses

Answer 17

• using deviation from social norms to define someone as abnormal carries the risk of unfair labelling and leaving them open to human rights abuse
• historically, this has been the case where diagnoses like nymphomania (women’s uncontrollable or excessive sexual desire) have been used to control women, or diagnoses like drapetomania (black slaves running away) were a way to control slaves and avoid debate

Question 18

evaluation of deviation from social norms: should consider other factors

Answer 18

eg. failure to function definition considers the individuals’ experiences as well as the impact this individual has on others, which is an important factor to consider

Question 19

evaluation of deviation from social norms: unsure what causes different rates

Answer 19

• in their five year study of schizophrenia in different ethnic groups in london, goater et al. (1999) found that people from black ethnic minority groups were more likely to be diagnosed as being schizophrenic
• this was not due to their ethnicity in any innate sense, so what is causing it?
• it could be due to how we measure them, actual variations in how common they are or problems with how we define them
• research has also mostly been done in the USA and europe