Abnormal Psychology Lesson objective: Examine the concepts of normality and abnormality

‘Official’ definitions 1.Statistical Norm 2.Norm Violation 3.Personal Discomfort 4.Maladaptive Behavior 5.Jahoda’s characteristics of mental health

Defining (ab-)normal behaviour Statistical norm:

Statistical Norm Some things that are statistically normal might not be desirable or healthy behaviours (e.g. obesity) Some things that are statistically rare might not be dysfunctional (e.g. a high IQ score)

Defining (ab-)normal behaviour Norm violation: People who follow the social norms are seen as normal, those who don’t are seen as abnormal (people who stand too close might be seen as pushy, people who stand too far away might be seen as cold) Norm violation tends to be viewed, in varying degrees, as abnormal

Norm Violation Some choose to be abnormal (eccentric) Social norms change over time The context & degree is important Affected by the culture

Defining (ab-)normal behaviour Personal discomfort: If people are distressed over their thoughts or behaviour then they can be classed as abnormal This approach makes people the judges of their own normality

Personal Discomfort Using personal discomfort as a criterion gives us no standard for evaluating the behaviour itself This is a problem, especially with harmful behaviour (e.g. teenage drug addictions), but also with non-harmful behaviour – if the person feels fine, no basis for diagnosis Should someone who believes he is receiving messages from outer space be treated for this, even though he causes no harm to himself or others?

Defining (ab-)normal behaviour Maladaptive behavior: Is a person able to meet the demands for his/ her life? E.g. hold down a job, deal with friends and family, pay the bills on time, etc. If not, the behaviour pattern of that person is abnormal

Maladaptive Behavior Not the whole picture Exceptions to the rule

Defining (ab-)normal behaviour A reverse standard: Jahoda (1958) on the other hand tried to identify the characteristics of people who are normal; classifying others as deviant. She identified six characteristics of ideal mental health

Jahoda (1958) – Six categories of mental health 1.Efficient self-perception 2.Realistic self-esteem and acceptance 3.Voluntary control of behaviour 4.True perception of the world 5.Sustaining relationships and giving affection 6.Self-direction and productivity

Jahoda Culture specific Lack of Validity Benefits of stress Subjective Criteria

DISCUSSION POINTS DISCUSS the concepts of normality and abnormality

ECCENTRIC and CRIMINAL EccentricCriminal Behaviour that violate legal norms are usually viewed as criminal Some ‘criminal’ behaviours have mental illnesses attached to it E.g. The chessboard killer Some people choose to go against social norms to be viewed as unique E.g. The emerging indie style

CHANGE Social ‘norms’ change over time Acceptable to not acceptable – Drinking and driving – Smoking Not acceptable to acceptable – Homosexuality – Having children out of wedlock

CONTEXT & DEGREE The context and the degree of the behaviour have to be considered The role of context : Risk of abuse: Wearing a bathing suit on a beach would be considered normal Wearing a bathing suit to do your weekly shopping would be considered abnormal [simplistic and odd conduct] Being rude would be considered deviant But how rude does one have to become before such behaviour is considered pathological?

CULTURE Social norms are influence and defined by culture  For instance Margaret Mead [1935] studied a number of tribes who lived in New Guinea  The Arapesh were described as being gentle, loving and cooperative. Boys and girls were reared to attain both masculine and feminine characteristics. Both parents were said to bear a child and males took to their beds when their child was born. Babes were looked after by males and females and treated gently.

CULTURE What might happen if a family from any one of the tribes went to live in another tribe and how might their behaviour be described by the dominant culture? The Mundugumor were described as ex-cannibals and as assertive, fierce and aggressive. Both genders disliked matters related to childbearing and child rearing. Babies were often hung in scratchy baskets in dark places and were ignored when they cried.

CULTURE Mental Illness is culturally relative  Behaviour only makes sense when viewed within the originating culture  Abnormality cannot be judged without reference to the standards of the culture where the behaviour arose  A diagnosis of mental illness may be different for the same person in two different cultures:  Cochrane [1977] found that Afro- Caribbean immigrants in the UK were more likely to be diagnosed as schizophrenics than whites. This high diagnosis for Afro-Caribbean’s is only found in the UK and not other countries

Failure to function may be as a result of economic or social conditions It may be the case that apparently dysfunctional behaviour is actually adaptive and functional for the specific individual. E.g. someone who is starving himself as a sign of protest for a cause Not the whole picture

Some people may appear to function quite well yet still have psychological abnormality. John Forbes Nash, Jr. (born June 13, 1928) is an American mathematician whose works in game theory, differential geometry, and partial differential equations have provided insight into the forces that govern chance and events inside complex systems in daily life. His theories are used in market economics, computing, evolutionary biology, artificial intelligence, accounting, politics and military theory. Serving as a Senior Research Mathematician at Princeton University during the latter part of his life, he shared the 1994 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences with game theorists Reinhard Selten and John Harsanyi. Nash is the subject of the Hollywood movie A Beautiful Mind. The film, loosely based on the biography of the same name, focuses on Nash's mathematical genius and apparent struggle with paranoid schizophrenia. [1 Example Exceptions to the rule

What is ‘adequate’ in one culture may not be in another

Maher & Maher No clear way to use the categories Degree is subjective from one person to another

Culturally specific One limitation is that this definition is culturally specific. – E.g., In the West (GB/USA) people are encouraged to put themselves first, and to emphasise ‘ME’. However, in many Eastern countries people are brought up to emphasise ‘WE’, and to see themselves as responsible for their family and their village. So, a person with a lot of personal autonomy would be defined as ‘normal’ in the USA, but as perhaps selfish and arrogant (therefore abnormal) in Japan. This suggests that this definition cannot be generalised to all cultures.

Lack of validity One limitation is that this definition has problems with validity. It cannot be a true measure of abnormality because no one achieves ideal mental health. Most people struggle with at least one of the criteria for ideal mental health – Eg. most people have negative views about themselves from time to time. This suggests that hardly anyone can be defined as normal, and most people are abnormal. Also, mental health criteria has changed over time. – Eg. In the 13 th Century in Europe hearing voices was meant to mean that the person had got in contact with God, today it means that people have schizophrenia.

Benefits of stress Possible benefits of stress: As far as resistance to stress is concerned, some people actually work more efficiently in moderately stressful situations – e.g., many actors say that they give their best performance when they experience a certain amount of anxiety.

Subjective Criteria Subjective criteria: Many of the concepts are not clearly defined. Measuring physical health is more of an objective science using X- rays and blood tests, however, mental health is a more subjective and relies on self-reports and these may not be reliable

CRITICAL THINKING

Medical Model Another way of assessing abnormal behaviour is the medical model, according which abnormal behaviour is of physiological origin (e.g. the result of disordered neurotransmission) Treatment of abnormal behaviour must therefore address this physiological problem, usually through drug treatment Abnormal behaviour is referred to as psychopathology – that is, psychological illness that is based on the observed symptoms of a patient

Thomasz Szasz and the mental illness criterion In his book The Myth of Mental Illness (1962) psychiatrist Thomasz Szasz argues against the concept of mental illness According to him so-called “mental illnesses” are not the symptoms of underlying brain disease Therefore the concept of mental illness is often misused by psychiatrists

Evaluation of Szasz (1962) Pro Frude (1998) Contra Pilowsky (2006) Using the Crane textbook (p. 139), find one example in support of Szasz’s theory and one against it Using the Crane textbook (p. 139), find one example in support of Szasz’s theory and one against it

Plenary Richard Castillo, in his book Culture and Mental Illness outlines how different cultural groups have their own ways of experiencing and managing psychological distress and abnormal behaviour What are the implications of Bill’s and Mr Sinah’s stories for defining abnormal behaviour?

Defining (ab-)normal behaviour A combined standard: Maher & Maher (1985) identified 4 categories that indicate a mental disorder:

Defining (ab-)normal behaviour 1.Behaviour that is harmful to the self or that is harmful to others without serving the interest of the self 2.Poor reality contact – e.g. beliefs that most people do not hold or sensory perceptions of things that most people do not perceive 3.Emotional reactions inappropriate to the person’s situation 4. Erratic behaviour – that is, behaviour that shifts unpredictably