Definitions of abnormality Flashcards
What are the 4 definitions of abnormality?
- deviation from social norms
- deviation from ideal mental health
- failure to function adequately
4.statistical infrequency
What is deviation from social norms?
example
evaluation
A person is considered abnormal when their behaviour does not follow the social norms
e.g : antisocial personality disorder
evaluation:
strength: minimises harm to others. When people deviate from social norms they can start causing harm to members of society. classifying such people as abnormal means we can treat people and prevent them causing harm to others.
weakness 1: social norms vary based on culture. meaning people from one culture might be judged by social norms on another culture. This might cause people from one culture to be misdiagnosed as having a mental disorder therefore lacks validity.
weakness 2 : social norms change over time. This means classification of mental disorders has to be constantly updated. this means they lack reliability because they are not consistent over time
deviation of ideal mental health
- no e.g
evaluation
A person is considered abnormal when they fail to indicate behaviours that are ideal mental health
What are Jahoda’s 6 criteria of ideal mental health
1. positive attitude
2. independent
3. self actualisation
4. resistance to stress
5. accurate perception of reality = see the world how everyone else sees it
6. environmental mastery= being able to adjust to changes comfortably
evaluation:
Criteria of ideal mental health is far too idealistic. evidence comes from maslow who argued that only a few people can reach self actualisation and the criteria includes self actualization. If this is true most people will define as abnormal because self actualisation is hard to obtain
What is considered “ideal” is historically and culturally specific. For e.g being independent may not be valued in collectivist cultural where value is placed on group activity this suggest that definition may not work on all cultures
Gives people a list to follow so people know what they need to improve about themselves and reach self actualisation.
what is failure to function adequately
example
evaluation
According to this definition a person is abnormal when they are unable to cope with demands of everyday life.
Example : intellectual disability disorder
evaluation:
strength: behaviours can be easily observed and measured so that doctors can identify and treat those with mental disorders.
weakness: fails to identify people who have a mental disorder but do cope with everyday demands of life.
weakness: some maladaptive behaviour causes us to fail to cope with demands of everyday life but they are not signs of mental disorder
What is statistical infrequency?
example
evaluation
According to this definition a person is seen abnormal if their behaviour is rare or statistically uncommon.
e.g : IQ
Average iq is set at 100. Most people have iq in the range from 85-115. Only 2% have scores below 70. Those individuals scoring below 70 are very unusual and abnormal.
evaluation:
- relies less on the doctor’s interpretation of the patient means the doctor is less likely to display personal bias and will be more objective as the data would be analysed mathematically.
- fails to account for behaviours that are statistically rare but desirable such as having a very high iq
- clear definition of what is normal and abnormal which based on rarity of the behaviour
