definitions of abnormality

Question 1

statistical infrequency definition

Answer 1

occurs when an individual has a less common characteristic, for example being more depressed or less intelligent than most of the population

Question 2

deviation form social norms definition

Answer 2

concerns behaviour that is different form the accepted standards of behaviour in a community or society

Question 3

what is statistical infrequency

Answer 3

any relatively usual characteristic or behvaiour can be thought of as normal and any behvaiour that is unusual is abnormal

Question 4

example of statistical infrequency- IQ and intellectual disability disorder

Answer 4

any characteristic the majority of peoples scores will cluster around the average, and the further we go above or below that average, the fewer people will have that score. this is called the normal distribution. the average IQ is set at 100. in a normal distribution, most people (68%) have a score in the range form 85 to 115. only about 2% of people fall below 70. those individuals scoring very low are very unusual or abnormal and are likely to be able to receive a diagnosis of a psychological disorder of intellectual disability disorder

Question 5

when is statistical infrequency used

Answer 5

dealing with characteristics that can be reliably measured

Question 6

how does statistical infrequency work

Answer 6

any human characteristic the majority of peoples scores will cluster around the average, and the further we go above or below that average, the fewer people will have that score. this is called the normal distribution

Question 7

what is deviation form social norms

Answer 7

most of us notice people whose behaviour represents a deviation form social norms (when a person behaves in a way that is different form how we expect them to behave). groups of people chose to define behaviour as abnormal on the basis that is offends their sense of what is acceptable or the norm. as a society we decide what is right

Question 8

deviation form social norms- norms are specific to the culture we live in

Answer 8

social norms are different for every generation and culture, so there are relatively few behaviours that are considered universally abnormal on the basis of breaching social norms. an example is homosexuality was considered abnormal in our culture in the past and continues to be seen as abnormal in some cultures

Question 9

example of deviation form social norms - antisocial personality disorder

Answer 9

a person with antisocial personality disorder is impulsive, aggressive and irresponsible, according to the DSM-5 one important symptom of antisocial personality disorder is the absence of prosocial internal standards associated with failure to conform to lawful and culturally normative ethical behaviour. we are making the social judgement that psychopaths are abnormal because they don’t conform to our moral standards. psychopathic behaviour would be considered abnormal in a very wide range of cultures

Question 10

strength of statistical infrequency - real-world application

Answer 10

-usefulness
-statistical infrequency is sued in clinical practice, both as part of formal diagnosis and a way to assess the severity of an individuals symptoms. for example, diagnosis of intellectual disability disorder requires an IQ of below 70 (bottom 2%). an example of statistical infrequency used in an assessment tool is the Beck depression inventory. A score of 30+ (top 5% of respondents) is widely interpreted as having severe depression. this shows that the value of the statistical infrequency criterion is useful in diagnostic and assessment processes

Question 11

limitation of statistical infrequency - unusual characteristics can be positive

Answer 11

-infrequent characteristics can be positive as well as negative
-for every person with an IQ below 70 there is another person with an IQ above 130. yet we would not think someone with a high IQ is abnormal. similarly, we would not think of someone with a very low depression score on the BDI as abnormal. these examples show that being unusual or at one end of the psychological spectrum does not necessarily make someone abnormal –> means that, although statistical infrequency can form part of an assessment and diagnostic procedures, it is never sufficient as the sole basis for defining abnormality

Question 12

evaluation of statistical infrequency - benefits vs problems

Answer 12

-some unusual people benefit from being classed as abnormal. for example someone with a very low IQ and is diagnosed with intellectual disability can access support services or someone with a very high BDI score is likely to benefit form therapy
-however, not all statistically unusual people will benefit form labels. someone with a low IQ who can cope with their chosen lifestyle would not benefit form the label. there is a social stigma attached to such labels

Question 13

strength of deviation form social norms - real-world application

Answer 13

-usefulness
-deviation form social norms is use din clinical practice. for example, the key defining characteristic of antisocial personality disorder is the failure to conform to culturally acceptable ethical behaviour such as recklessness and aggression, violating the rights of others and deceitfulness. these signs of the disorder are all deviation from social norms. such norms are also used in diagnosis of schizotypal personality disorder, where the term strange is used to characterise thinking, behvaiour and appearance of people with the disorder –> shows deviation form social norms criterion has value in psychiatry

Question 14

limitation of deviation form social norms - cultural and situational relativism

Answer 14

One limitation of deviation from social norms is the variability between social norms in different cultures and even different situations. A person from one cultural group may label someone from another group as abnormal using their standards rather than the person’s standards. For example, the experience of hearing voices is the norm in some cultures (as messages from ancestors) but would be seen as a sign of abnormality in most parts of the UK. Also, even within one cultural context social norms differ from one situation to another. Aggressive and deceitful behaviour in the context of family life is more socially unacceptable than in the context of corporate deal-making. This means that it is difficult to judge deviation from social norms across different situations and cultures.

Question 15

evaluation of deviation form social norms - human rights abuses

Answer 15

-using deviation form social norms to define someone as abnormal carries the risk of unfair labelling and leaving them open to human rights abuses. historically this has been the case where diagnosis like nymphomania (women’s uncontrollable or excessive sexual desire) have been used to control women, or diagnosis like drapetomania (black salves running away) were a way to control slaves an avoid debate
-on the other hand it can be argued that we need to be able to use deviation form social norms to diagnose conditions such as antisocial personality disorder

Question 16

failure to function adequately definition

Answer 16

occurs when someone is unable to cope with ordinary demands of day-to-day living

Question 17

deviation from ideal mental health definition

Answer 17

occurs when someone does nor meet a set of criteria for good mental health

Question 18

what are the 4 definitions of abnormality

Answer 18

-statistical infrequency
-deviation form social norms
-failure to function adequately
-deviation from ideal mental health

Question 19

what is failure to function adequately

Answer 19

a perosn may cross the line between normal and abnormal where they can no longer cope with the demands of everyday life.

Question 20

when might we decide someone is failing to function adequately

Answer 20

when they are unable to to maintain basic standards of nutrition and hygiene, being unable to hold down a job or maintain relationship’s with people around them

Question 21

who proposed signs that someone is failing to function adequately

Answer 21

Rosehan and Seligman 1989 proposed signs that someone is not coping

Question 22

what signs did Rosehan and Seligman prose that someone is not coping

Answer 22

-when a person no longer conform to standard interpersonal rules, for example maintaining eye contact and respecting personas space
-when a person experiences severe personal distress
-when a person’s behaviour becomes irrational or dangerous to themselves or others

Question 23

example of failure to function adequately- intellectual disability disorder

Answer 23

a diagnosis cannot be made just off a very low IQ (statistical infrequency) as an individuals must be failing to function adequately before a diagnoses can be made

Question 24

what is deviation from ideal metal health

Answer 24

think about makes people normal and consider deviation form ideal mental health. once we have a picture of someone who is psychologically healthy we can then begin to identify from this ideal

Question 25

who suggested checklist for ideal mental health

Answer 25

Jahoda 1958

Question 26

what did Jahoda put on the ideal mental health criteria

Answer 26

-no symptoms or distress
-rational and can perceive ourselves accurately
-we can self-actualise (strive to reach our potential)
-we can cope with stress
-we can have a realistic view of the world
-we have good self-esteem and lack of guilt
-we are independent from other people
-we can successfully work, love and enjoy our leisure

Question 27

overlap between deviation from ideal mental health and what we might call failure to function adequately

Answer 27

there is some overlap between deviation from ideal mental health and what we might call failure to function adequately. so we can think of someone’s inability to keep a job as either a failure to cope with the pressure of work or as a deviation from the ideal of successfully working

Question 28

strength of failure to function adequately - represents a threshold for help

Answer 28

-represents a threshold for needing professional help
-most of us have symptoms of metal disorder to some degree at some time. in fact according to the mental health charity Mind, around 25% of people in the UK will experience a mental health problem in any given year. However, many people will press on in the face of sever symptoms. it tends to be at the point we cease to function adequately that people seek professional help or are noticed and referred for help by others –> the criterion means that treatment and services can be targeted to these who need them most

Question 29

limitation of failure to function adequately - discrimination and social role

Answer 29

-easy to label non-standard lifestyle choices as abnormal
-in practice it can be very hard to say when someone really failing to function and when they have simply chosen to deviate from social norms- for example not having a job could be failure to function adequately and for some it could but for some it could be an alternative lifestyle and chosen to live off grid. similarly those who favour high-risk leisure activities or unusual spiritual practices could be classes, unreasonably as irrational and perhaps a danger to self –> this means that people who make unusual choices are at risk of being labelled abnormal and their freedom of choice may be restricted

Question 30

evaluation of failure to function adequately - failure to function may not be abnormal

Answer 30

-there are some circumstances in which most of us fail to cope for time (eg bereavement). it may be unfair to give someone a label that may cause them future problems just because they react to difficult circumstances
-however, failure to function is no less real just because the case is clear. also, some people need professional help to adjust to circumstances like bereavement

Question 31

strength of deviation from ideal mental health - a comprehensive definition

Answer 31

-highly comprehensive
-Jahoda’s concept of ideal mental health includes a range of criteria for distinguishing mental health from mental disorder. in fact it covers most of the reasons why we might seek or be referred for help with metal health. this in turn means an individual’s mental health can be discusses meaningfully with a range of professionals who might take different theoretical views such as a medically trained psychiatrists might focus in symptoms whereas a humanistic counsellor might be more interested in self-actualisation –> means that ideal mental health provides a checklist against which we can assess ourselves and others and discuss psychological issues with a range of professionals

Question 32

limitation of deviation from ideal mental health - may be culture-bound

Answer 32

-limitation of ideal mental health criterion is different elements are not equally applicable across a range of cultures
-some of Jahoda’s criteria for ideal mental health a firmly located in the context of US and Europe generally. in particular, self-actualisation would probably be dismissed as self-indulgent in much of the world. even within Europe there is a lot of variation in the value placed on personal independence (such as high in Germany, low in Italy). Furthermore what defines success in our working, social and love-lived is very different in different cultures –> means that it is difficult to apply the concept of ideal mental health from one culture to another

Question 33

evaluation of deviation from ideal mental health - extremely high standards

Answer 33

-very few of us attain all of Jahoda’s criteria for mental health, and probably none of us can achieve them all at the same time or keep them up for very long. it can be disheartening to see an impossible set of standards to live up to
-however, having such a comprehensive set of criteria for mental health to work towards might be of practical value to someone wanting to understand and improve their mental health