Definitions of abnormality

Question 1

What is statistical infrequency?

Answer 1

Occurs when an individual has a less common characteristics than most of the population

Question 2

What is a example of statistical infrequency?

Answer 2

Being more depressed or less intelligent than most of the population.

Question 3

What is the definition of deviation from social norms?

Answer 3

Behavior that is different from the accepted standards of behavior in a community or society

Question 4

What is the definition of failure to function adequately?

Answer 4

Occurs when someone is unable to cope with ordinary demands of day to day living.

Question 5

What is the definition of deviation from ideal mental health?

Answer 5

Occurs when someone does not meet a set of criteria for good mental health.

Question 6

How can we define anything as normal?

*STATISTICAL INFREQUENCY

Answer 6

The most obvious way to define anything as normal or abnormal is according to the number of times we observe it.

Question 7

What does the statistical definition say about usual and different behavior/ characteristics?

*STATISTICAL INFREQUENCY

Answer 7

According to the statistical definition any relatively usual behavior or characteristic can be thought as normal and any behavior that is different to this is abnormal. This is what is meant by statistical infrequency.

Question 8

What can the statistical approach be used to measure?

*STATISTICAL INFREQUENCY- EXAMPLE:IQ

Answer 8

This statistical approach comes into its own when we are dealing with characteristic that can be reliably measured, for example intelligence. In any human characteristic, the majority of peoples scores will cluster around the average and that the further we go above or below that average, the fewer people will attain that score. This is called normal distribution.

Question 9

How are people liable to receive an intellectual disability disorder diagnosis?

*STATISTICAL INFREQUENCY-EXAMPLE:IQ

Answer 9

The average IQ is set at 100. Most people (68%) have score around 85- 115. Only 2% score lower than 70. Individuals scoring a lower IQ are ‘abnormal’ and are liable to receive a diagnosis of a psychological disorder- intellectual disability disorder

Question 10

State the key points of statistical deviation:

Answer 10

Statistical norms- Any commonly seen behavior or characteristic

Deviation- Any unusual behavior or characteristics

Question 11

What is a strength of statistical definition?

• EVALUATION OF STATISTICAL INFREQUENCY
• RLA

Answer 11

A strength of the statistical definition is that it has a real life application in the diagnosis of intellectual disability disorder. Therefore, there is a place for statistical infrequency in thinking about what are normal and abnormal behaviours and characteristics. Actually all, patients with mental disorders includes some kind of measurement of how severe their symptoms are as compared to statistical norms (as distinct form social norms). Statistical infrequency is a useful part of clinical assessment.

Question 12

How can unusual characteristics be seen as positive?
LIMITATION

*EVALUATION OF STATISTICAL INFREQUENCY

Answer 12

IQ scores over 130 are just as usual as those below 70, but super intelligence are not viewed as an undesirable characteristic that needs treatment.
Just because few people display certain behaviors does make the behavior statistically abnormal, but it doesn’t mean it requires treatment to return to normal. This is a serious limitation of statistical infrequency and means that it would never be used alone to make a diagnosis?

Question 13

How can being labelled abnormal have a negative effect on a person?
LIMITATION

*EVALUATION OF STATISTICAL INFREQUENCY

Answer 13

Another problem with statistical infrequency is that, when someone is living a happy fulfilled life, there is no benefit to them being labelled as abnormal regardless of how unusual they are. So someone with a low IQ but who was not distressed, quite capable of working would not need a diagnosis of intellectual disability. If that person was labelled as abnormal this might have a negative effect on the way others view them and how they view themselves.

Question 14

How is deviation from social norms defined?

Answer 14

Most of us notice people whose behaviour is a deviation from the social norms;, i.e. when a person behaves in a way that is different from how we expect them to behave. Groups of people (Social) have chosen to define behaviour on the basis that it offends what they think is acceptable and right. We are making a collective judgement, as society on what is right.

Question 15

Why are certain behaviours considered universally/ not ab

Answer 15

Social norms may be different for each generation and every culture, so there are few behaviours that would be considered universally abnormal on the basis that they breach social norms. For example, homosexuality continues to be viewed as abnormal in some cultures and was considered abnormal in our society in the past.

Question 16

What is an example of deviation from social norms?

Answer 16

Antisocial personality disorder

Question 17

What are the symptoms of antisocial personality disorder ?

Answer 17

A person with antisocial personality disorder (psychopathology) is impulsive, aggressive and irresponsible.
According to the DSM-5 One important symptom is an absence of pro social internal standards associated with failure to conform to lawful or culturally normative ethical behavior.

In other words we’re making the social judgement that a psychopath is abnormal because they don’t conform to our moral standards. Psychopathic behavior would be considered abnormal in a wide range of cultures.

Question 18

What are three key points of deviation from social norms?

Answer 18

Social norms- Ways in which most people behave, established by social group
Deviation- A behavior different form how most people behave, e.g. hearing voices

Question 19

What is a strength of the deviation from social norms?

*EVALUATION OF DEVITION FROM SOCIAL NORMS

Answer 19

It has a real life application in the diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder. There is therefore a place for deviation from social norms in thinking bout what is normal and abnormal. However there are other factors to consider like, the distress to other people resulting form antisocial personality disorder. So in practice deviation from social norms is never the sole reason for defining abnormality.

Question 20

How is cultural relativism a limitation in explaining abnormality in deviation from social norms?
*EVALUATION OF DEVIATION FROM SOCIAL NORMS

Answer 20

Social norms vary from one generation to another and from one community to another. This means that, for example a person from one cultural group may label someone from another culture behaving abnormally according to their standards rather than the standards of the person behaving that way. For example, hearing voices may be normal in one culture but in the UK it is seen as a mental disorder. This creates problems for people from one culture living within a culture group.

Question 21

How can too much reliance on deviation from social norms to understand abnormality lead to human right abuses?
LIMITATION

*EVALUATION OF DEVIATION FROM SOCIAL NORMS

Answer 21

Too much reliance on deviation from social norms to understand abnormality can also lead to systematic abuse of human rights. Looking at the historical examples of deviation from social norms it is clear that these diagnoses were there to maintain control over minority ethnic groups and women.
The classification appears ridiculously as social norms have changed.

Question 22

Define failure to function adequately:

Answer 22

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

Question 23

Define deviation from ideal mental health

Answer 23

Occurs when someone does not meet a set of criteria for good mental health

Question 24

When may a person decided they aren’t able to function adequately?

Answer 24

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 fail to function adequately. We may decide a person is failing to function adequately when they are unable to maintain basic standards of nutrition and hygiene. We might also consider that they are no longer functioning adequately if they can’t hold down a job or maintain relationships with people around them.

Question 25

What signs can be used to determine when someone is not able to function adequately?

Answer 25

David Rosenhan and Martin Seligman (1989) came up with signs used to determine when someone is nit coping these are:

• When a person no longer conforms to standard interpersonal rules, e.g. not maintaining eye contact and not respecting personal space
• When a person experiences severe personal distress
• When a persons behavior becomes irrational or dangerous to themselves or others

Question 26

What diagnosis could this be used for?

Answer 26

Failure to function adequately can also be sued to diagnose intellectual disability disorder as the persons does not only need to have a low IQ but the diagnosis would need to based on whether the individual is failing to function adequately .

Question 27

What is an STRENGTH of failure to function adequately?

*EVALUATION OF FAILURE TO FUNCTION ADUEQUATELY

Answer 27

A strength of failure to function adequately is that it does attempt to include the subjective experience of the individual. It may not be an entirely satisfactory approach because it is difficult to assess distress, but at least this definition acknowledges that the experience of the patients is important.
In this sense the failure to function adequately definition captures the experience of many of the people who need help. This suggest that failure to function adequately is a useful criterion for assessing abnormality.

Question 28

Is failure to function adequately a deviation from social norms?
LIMITATION

*EVALUATION OF FAILURE TO FUNCTION ADUEQUATELY

Answer 28

It can be hard to say when someone is failing to function and when they are just deviating from social norms.
We might think not having a job or permanent address is a sign of failure to function adequately. But what do we say about people with alternative lifestyles who choose not to have those things? Similarly those who practice extreme sports could be accused of behaving in a maladaptive (not being able to function adequately) way whilst those with religious or supernatural beliefs could be seen as irrational.
If we treat these behaviors as ‘failures’ of adequate functioning, we risk limiting personal freedom and discriminating against minority groups

Question 29

What is needed to decide whether someone to failing to function adequately?
LIMITATION
*EVALUATION OF FAILURE TO FUNCTION ADUEQUATELY

Answer 29

Subjective judgement are needed as someone has to judge whether a patient is distressed or distressing. Some patients may say they are distressed but may be judged as not suffering. There are methods to make such judgments as objective as possible, including checklists such as Global Assessment of Functioning Scale.
However, the principle remains that someone (e.g. psychiatrist) has the right to make this judgement.

Question 30

What are three key points of failure to function adequately?

Answer 30

Adequate functioning- Coping with the demands of everyday life
Failure to function adequately failing to cope with everyday life
Real life example- Intellectual disability disorder involve having a low IQ and failure to function adequately.

Question 31

Explain a different way to look normality and abnormality?

*DEVIATION FROM IDEAL MENTAL HEALTH

Answer 31

A very different way to look at normality and abnormality is to ignore the issue of what makes someone abnormal but instead think about what makes anyone normal. We considered deviation from ideal mental health.

Question 32

What does good ideal mental health look like?

Marie Jahoda- 1958
*DEVIATION FROM IDEAL MENTAL HEALTH

Answer 32

• We have no symptoms or distress
• We are rational and can perceive ourselves accurately
  -We self actualize (reach our potential)
  -We can cope with stress
• We have a realistic view of the world
  -We have good self esteem and lack guilt
  We can successfully work, love and enjoy out leisure

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

Question 33

What is a strength of deviation from ideal mental health?

*EVALUATION DEVIATION FROM IDEAL MENTAL HEALTH

Answer 33

Its very comprehensive, it covers a broad range of criteria for mental health. In fact it probably covers most of the reasons someone would seek help from mental health services or be referred help. The sheer range of factors discussed in relation to Jahodas ideal mental health make it a good tool for thinking about mental health.

Question 34

How is cultural relativism linked to deviation from ideal mental health?
LIMITATION

• EVALUATION DEVIATION FROM IDEAL MENTAL HEALTH

Answer 34

Some of the ideas in Jahodas classification of ideal mental health are specific to Western European and North American cultures (we say they are culture bound). For example the emphasis on personal achievement in the concept of self- actualization would be considered self indulgent in much of the world because the emphasis is so much on the individual rather than the family or community,Similarly much of the world would see independence form other people as a bad thing, such traits are typical of individualist cultures.

Question 35

What standards would Jahoda’s criteria hold?
LIMITATION

*EVALUATION DEVIATION FROM IDEAL MENTAL HEALTH

Answer 35

Its sets an unrealistically high standard for mental health. Very few if us attain all of Jahoda’s criteria for mental health and probably none of us achieve all of them at the same time or keep them up for long. Therefore this approach would see pretty much all of use as abnormal. We can see this as a positive a positive or negative.
On the positive side it makes it clear to people the ways in which they could benefit from seeking treatment- say counselling- to improve their mental health. At the other extreme, deviation form ideal mental health is probably of no value in thinking about who might benefit form treatment against their will.

Question 36

What are three key points of deviation from ideal mental health?
*DEVIATION FROM IDEAL MENTAL HEALTH

Answer 36

Mental health- Characteristics of a psychologically healthy person
Good mental health (Jahoda) - A set of criteria including lack of symptoms, independence realistic view of the world and good self-esteem
Deviation from ideal mental health- Failing to have any one of the above criteria for good mental health, e.g. having low self esteem.