Behaviour that differs from that which society expects, people who break
implicit rules such as giving people personal space and explicit rules such as
the law people are deemed abnormal as they are deviating from the social
norms within society
Examples: Someone suffering from agoraphobia which is a fear of going out,
prevents people from participating in normal behaviour such as going to work or
out with friends therefore they would be defined under this definition as abnormal
One weakness of this definition is that it is culturally limited, social norms differ within different societies, so
something that is seen as normal in one culture maybe abnormal in another, for example homosexuality is seen
as abnormal in many cultures, therefore this suggests that the definition is limited because it can't be used as a
universal definition of abnormality if it isn't applicable in all cultures
Another limitation of this definition is that it's difficult to distinguish between
abnormal behaviour and criminal behaviour, for example if we were to say the
act of criminal behaviour was abnormal but the person was normal then anyone
could be a mass murderer, therefore caution must be taken when branding
people criminal or abnormal
However a strength of this definition is that it has practical applications as
it can be used to identify people in need of help, for example someone who
hears voices differs from the norm and under this definition they would be
diagnosed as abnormal and be able to receive treatment, therefore this
definition can be used to help improve the quality of some peoples lives by
getting them the help they need
Failure to function adequately
Someone who fails to cope with everyday life is deemed to be abnormal
according to the failure to function adequately definition
Example: OCD, a person may not be able to function adequately because of their own personal distress, for example
having to wash their hands hundreds of times a day and this prevents them from leading a 'normal' life
Diagnostic statistical manual is used to define whether a person is abnormal or not, a poor score would be able to help
assess the individual but alone would not indicate a psychological disorder, someone whose problems fall outside criteria
of a mental health disorder should be given professional help if they're unable to function in everyday life
A limitation of this definition is that there are exceptions to it, for example students that are preparing for their exams
may act out of character, due to the huge amount of stress they are under and under this definition they would be
classed as abnormal therefore this definition may class deem people abnormal who are not necessarily abnormal
A strength of failure to function adequately is that it has practical application, someone who
couldn't get up for work or feed themselves would under this definition be diagnosed with
depression and would be able to get the treatment they required therefore this definition can help
improve the quality of some peoples lives by getting them the diagnosis and then the help that
they need
A further limitation is that sometimes this definition doesn't give the full picture, it determines the extent of a persons problems and the
likelihood they will need help, therefore psychological abnormality is not necessarily indicated soley by dysfunction, other indicators of
abnormality need to be considered before a person is classified as psychologically abnormal
Deviation from ideal mental
health
Any behaviour which deviates from perfect psychological health is deemed abnormal, Jahoda's 6
criteria express what is required to have perfect psychological health, a lack of these qualities
would mean the person is vunerable to mental disorders according to this defenition
Example: Manic depression may believe in their manic phase that they have superhuman powers and
therefore don't posses an accurate perception of reality so doesn't meet the criteria for perfect
psychological health, which means under this definition they are deemed as abnormal
Jahoda's 6 criteria
Positive attitudes towards self: sense of identity, self-respect and self-confidence
Self actualization of ones potential: striving to fulfil potential
Resistance to stress: Tolerate anxiety without disintegration
Personal autonomy: Remain stable in the face of hard knocks, not dependant on others
Accurate perception of reality: seeing yourself and the world in realistic terms, distortion of reality will mean behaviour appears abnomal
Adapting to and mastering the environment: being able to adapt and change, competence in personal relationships and leisure activities
One limitation of devition from ideal mental health is that the definition is low on validity, it can't be a true measure of abnormality
because no one achieves perfect psychological health, most people will struggle with at least one of the criteria for ideal mental health,
for example most people have negative views about themselves from time to time therefore with this definition hardly anyone can be
defined as normal and most people would be considered to be abnormal
Another limitation of this definition is that there are benefits of experiencing stress, some people work better under stress, actors often give their best
performance under some level of anxiety, so complete resistance to stress may not be a positive therefore this definition doesn't take into account the fact that
some stress can be positive
This definition has practical applications, as it can be used to identify people with conditions such as anorexia, someone who eats very little because
they are unhappy with their body size and don't feel positively about themselves can be identified as npot having perfect psychological health and
therefore as abnormal, allowing them to get the psychiatric help they need, so this definition can be used to help improve the quality of some
peoples lives
Biological
Biochemistry: Neurotransmitters - (chemicals that transmit nerve impulses across the synapse from one
nerve cell to another) These are thought to be out of balance in the nervous system of individuals with
psychological disorders such as schizophrenia which is associated with excess activity of dopamine
Hormones- (chemical messengers released by the pituitary adrenal
system) Thought to play a role in abnormality if out of balance,
psychological conditions such as depression are related to high levels
of cortisol
Genes: Disorders are genetically inherited, example; separating out the effects of the environment and genetic factors, adopted children who later
developed mental disorders are compared with their biological and adoptive parents. Wender et al found there was an 8x greater risk of developing
depression from biological parents
Evaluation
Strength: No blame, by using this model to describe mental disorders the individual isn't blamed for having a disorder. It's likely to elicit a sympathetic
response from others, the person suffering needs help not punishment, suggesting that the biological models are more humane as it doesn't put blame on the
sufferer
Another strength is that Mcguffin et al (1996) found 46% concordence in MZ twins compared to 20% in DZ twins for depression, which suggests that there is a genetic component in
depression therefore these findings back up the biological approach
Biological therapies
ECT, the patient has either one electrode (unilateral) or two electrodes (bilateral) attached to their temples, then the patient is given ' ' and ' sedative ' so that they don't injure
themselves during the treatment, oxygen is administered and the patient then receives a shock of 0.6 amps that lasts for 1/2 a second, then the patient will experience a minute long
seizure. The purpose is that ECT shakes up the amount of neurotransmitters in an attempt to rebalance them, however it's unclear what exactly happens during ECT
Drugs, are an attempt to rebalance neurotransmitter activity
in the body, examples include - serotonin reuptake inhibitors,
used to treat depression by increasing the availability of the
neurotransmitter serotonin by inhibiting its reuptake.