social and cultural influences create abnormal behavior -abnormality is defined by what society expects societal labels- what society considers normal and abnormal -basically society defines what “mentally ill” means and the label itself can influence behavior

Lev Vygotsky- the founder of a theory of human cultural and bio-social development David Rosenhan- conducted a study that proved normal people can believe they are crazy if they are labeled as schizophrenic PJ Henry- Low Status Compensation Theory: lower status individuals have higher tendencies toward violent and abnormal behavior

Distress- environmental pressures can lead to stress, anxiety, and depression -Example: Lower class societies -lack resources for help -racial and ethnic differences prevent opportunity to see a therapist -environmental pressure from parents and society

Dysfunction- lack of social networks and support can lead to an inability to have functional relationships within a society -Example: Someone who is isolated for a significant period would lack the ability to interact with others normally and would not be able to find a job or be an active member of society Danger- external influences can lead to dangerous behavior -Example: The son of an alcoholic will turn to alcohol in times of stress and use alcohol to cope with life, instead of finding a healthier strategy

Deviance- violating social norms -Example: A guy never wears clothes in public -society labels public nudity as abnormal, making him more likely to think he is abnormal which leads to more abnormal behavior

approaches that seek to address the unique issues faced by members of minority groups cultural beliefs, language barriers, lack of information, and traditional remedies contribute to underuse of mental health services sensitive-care-for-culturally-diverse-clients/

therapy format in which a group of people with similar problems meet together with a therapist to work on those problems outpatient-program

therapy format in which the therapist meets with all members of a family and helps them to change in therapeutic ways family systems theory- structure and communication patterns of some families force individual members to behave abnormally

therapy format in which the therapist works with two people who share a long term relationship couples.html

treatment that emphasizes community care allows clients to receive treatment in familiar surroundings while they try to recover om/2013/01/18/g oogle-plus- communities- beginners-guide/

Strengths : directly addresses issues surrounding family and society examines the impact of societal labels high success rate -most clinicians believe in biopsychosocial theories (explanations that attribute the cause of abnormality to an interaction of all abnormal models)

Weaknesses : disregards genetic components of certain mental illness research is difficult to interpret inability to predict abnormality in specific individuals

abnormal-functioning.html abnormal-functioning.html the-sociocultural-model.htmlhttp://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/strengths-and-weaknesses-of- the-sociocultural-model.html