definitions of abnormality (1) Flashcards
define statistical frequency
- how often we come across it
- usual behaviour/characteristic = normal
statistical frequency example: IQ and intellectual disability disorder
- majority of peoples score cluster around average & fewer people above/below = normal distribution
- average IQ = 100
- normal distribution: 68% have score 85-115 but 2% have score below 70 (abnormal)
- IQ below 70 = liable to receive diagnosis for intellectual disability disorder (IDD)
define deviation from social norms
- person behaves different to way we expect people to behave
- offends sense of what’s ‘acceptable’ or the norm
- differs between cultures & generations
deviation from social norms: antisocial personality disorder
- impulsive, aggressive & irresponsible (psychopaths)
- according to DSM-5 = ‘absence of prosocial internal standards associated with failure to conform to lawful & culturally normative ethical behaviour’
statistical frequency: (+) real world application
P: real world application
E: used in clinical practice, as both part of formal diagnosis & way to assess severity of symptoms. for example, diagnosis of IDD requires IQ of below 70 (bottom 2%). an example of statistical frequency used as an assessment tool is the Beck depression inventory (BDI). a score of 30+ (top 5%) indicates severe depression
T: value of statistical frequency due to usefulness in diagnostic & assessment processes
statistical frequency: (-) unusual characteristics can be positive
P: infrequent characteristics can be positive and negative
E: eg. for someone with IQ above 130, this may be thought of as normal. also, scoring very low on the BDI would not be thought of as abnormal. this shows that being at one end of a psychological spectrum doesn’t necessarily make someone abnormal
T: isn’t a sufficient as sole basis for defining abnormality
deviation from social norms: (+) real world application
P: real world application
E: used in clinical practice eg. the key defining characteristics of antisocial personality disorder is the failure to conform to culturally acceptable ethical behaviour eg. aggression, violating rights of others etc. also play part in diagnosis of schizotypal personality disorder, where ‘strange’ is used to characterise thinking, behaviour and appearance of people with disorder
T: value and useful in psychiatry
deviation from social norms: (-) cultural and situational relativism
P: variability between social norms in different cultures and situations
E: someone from one cultural group may label someone from another as abnormal using their standards eg. experience of hearing voices is norm for some (messages from ancestors) but seen as sign of abnormality in majority of UK. also, in one cultural context social norms differ in different situations eg. aggressive/deceitful behaviour in context of family life more socially acceptable than context of corporate deal-making
T: difficult to judge deviation from social norms across different cultures/situations
