evaluations for definitions of abnormality

Question 1

deviation from social norms

Answer 1

● strengths:
p: real life application to diagnosing certain disorders
e: useful in diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder as this requires failure to conform to ethical standards of behaviour
c: strength as shows deviation from social norms has value in psychiatry and once identified, support can be put in place to support the individual and their family

● limitations:
p: culturally specific - cannot assume what is considered normal in our society applies to other cultures - called cultural relativism
e: person from 1 culture may label someone from another culture as abnormal using their standards rather than the persons standards
hearing voices - more acceptable in african caribbean communities - sign as abnormality in uk
c: limitation - problems when more than one culture living in one country - certain cultures may be over diagnosed with certain mental health disorders

● p: lacks temporal validity - what is considered normal can change over time
e: homosexuality - considered a mental illness until 1974 - in DSM - more acceptable in society today
diagnosing nymphomania as disorder - attempt to control female behaviour - not classed as disorder today
c: limitation - impacts qol - treated unfairly due to use of definition of abnormality
can lead to human rights abuses

Question 2

failure to function adequately

Answer 2

● strength:
p: represents a sensible threshold for when people need professional help
e: according to mind, 25% of people in uk will experience a mental health problem in a year
however most people seek professional help or be referred for help by others once they cease to function adequately - e.g. if behaviour becomes irrational or dangerous
c: strength as using criterion means treatment and services can be targeted at who need them most

● limitations:
p: not a useful way to diagnose all mental health disorders
e: some individuals with depression - very good at masking their symptoms - appear to be ‘coping’ with everyday life
c: limitation as definition alone could mean some individuals not diagnosed with mental health disorder and therefore miss out on treatment to improve their qol

p: difficult to distinguish between someone who is failing in society and someone who is living an alternate lifestyle
e: people may choose to live off grid - part of alternative lifestyle - take part in higher risk leisure activities - their conscious decision to do so - they may be viewed as abnormal - could be seen as irrational - causing danger to themselves
c: limitation as people who make unusual choices are at risk of being labelled abnormal - freedom of choice restricted

Question 3

deviation from ideal mental health

Answer 3

● strengths:
p: highly comprehensive
e: ideal mental health includes range of criteria for mental health - covers most of reasons might need help with mental health - meaning mental health can be discussed meaningfully with range of professionals
c: strength as definition provides checklist against which we can assess ourselves and particular areas can be targeted if they are preventing individual from achieving ideal mental health

● limitation:
p: what is considered ideal varies across cultures
e: some criteria for ideal mental health - limited to us and europe (individualistic cultures) - self-actualisation seen as less important and more selfish in collectivist cultures
even among individualistic cultures - variation in value placed on SA
c: limitation can not generalise definition to all cultures - making definition culturally biased

p: criteria sets extremely high standard for mental health
e: few of us can attain all of jahoda’s criteria for mental health - find it hard to maintain for a longer period of time - impossible set of standards can be disheartening
c: definition of abnormality class majority of people as abnormal - might not be helpful in terms of deciding who to treat

Question 4

statistical infrequency

Answer 4

● strength:
p: real life application
e: intellectual disability disorder is diagnosed using statistical norms - person must have an IQ in bottom 2% to be diagnosed
c: strength as once diagnosed interventions/strategies can be put in place to support individual and their family - useful for all other disorders as all assessments of patients with mental disorders includes some kind of measurement of how serve their symptoms are compared to statistical norms

● limitations:
p: assumes abnormal behaviour is statistically infrequent - not always the case
e: depression is relatively common illness however using this definition of abnormality we would say those experiencing depression do not need help / treatment as their behaviour is common in society
c: limitation as inaccurately measures abnormality - ignoring fact abnormal behaviours are very common within society. therefore, certain people with disorders may not receive treatment

p: infrequent characteristics can be positive as well as negative
e: if very few people display characteristic - behaviour is statistically infrequent does not mean we would call them abnormal - IQ scores above 130 just as unusual as those below 70 but not regarded as undesirable or needing treatment
c: not sufficient as the sole basis for diagnosing abnormality