Deviation from social norms Flashcards
What is psychopathology
Psychopathology is the scientific study of mental disorders (abnormalities) such as depression, phobias and obsessive compulsive disorder.
In order to diagnose someone with a mental disorder we must first decide in what way their behaviour differs from what is ‘normal’ i.e. what is abnormal?
There is not one single accepted definition of what makes a person abnormal. Each definition captures some aspect of what makes a person abnormal, however, they all have limitations.
Deviation from social norms
Under this definition, abnormal behaviour is that which goes against the unwritten rules (social norms) in a given society or culture.
All societies make collective judgements about what counts as normal/usual/typical behaviour. Any behaviour that does not conform to accepted/excepted standards is abnormal.
An example of a social norm is do not stand too close to a person you have just met. Social norms vary from culture to culture.
Disadvantages of deviation from social norms
- In some instances it can be beneficial to break social norms, for example the Suffragettes broke many social norms but this led to women gaining the right to vote.
- The social norms of a society change over time. For example, homosexuality was classed as a mental illness in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) until 1990 but is no longer considered an abnormality.
- Deviation from social norms does not always have mental health consequences. Those who do not conform to social norms may very well not be abnormal but merely eccentric. For example, naturists break social norms but are not often perceived as having mental health problems.
- A disadvantage of using deviation from social norms as a definition of abnormality is that context must be taken into account. An example could be that wearing no clothes in the high street would be viewed as odd and deviating from social norms. However wearing no clothes would be acceptable in a different context (a nudist beach), and therefore the behaviour would be acceptable. Therefore context must be considered when judging if behaviour is deviant or not.
Advantages of deviation from social norms
A strength of deviation from social norms is that it distinguishes a difference between desirable and non desirable behaviour. The model aims to protect members of the public from the effects of abnormal behaviour and the damaging consequences it can have. For instance it is abnormal for someone to wear no clothes in the high street, and if someone was to display this behaviour it would be damaging and disturbing. Therefore to highlight that this behaviour is abnormal, we can aim to minimise this behaviour in order to protect members of the public from its effects (+)
