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Define abnormality? short essay
Define abnormality? short essay
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The Four Main Approaches to Defining Abnormality The statistical approach to defining abnormality analyses data collected from a population of people, and highlights rare and un-typical behaviour, which is then labelled abnormal. For a certain behaviour to be labelled ‘normal’ in a statistical point of view, it needs to be an average behaviour performed by the population in question. This is why labelling behaviours from culture to culture and place-to-place is very hard, as different places have different standards and morals to which you are expected to abide by. To statistically define a behaviour as ‘abnormal’, the percentage of people in a population exhibiting this particular behaviour must be 10% or less. Evaluating The Statistical Approach. One criticism of the statistical approach is that it overlooks the opposite behaviours to abnormal behaviours. E.g. being very unhappy or severely depressed is seen as being abnormal, but is being very happy all the time normal? According to the statistical approach, being happy all the time is seen as the desired and normal behaviour. In other words, it ignores desired levels of the behaviour, or a median value in the scale of normality and abnormality. Due to high levels of some disorders and behaviours in some populations, things like chicken pox, anxiety and depression are statistically ‘normal’, but is this right, or just a fault in the method of the statistical approach? There are also problems with taking averages of behaviours from whole populations and then trying to relate them to specific groups (E.g. ages or genders, or even different countries) because in d... ... middle of paper ... ...ions. 4) Autonomy – how much a person is independent of social influences 5) Perception of reality – distortion in perception of reality? 6) Environmental mastery – success and adaptiveness? Including the ability to love, work and play. Evaluating The Deviation From Ideal Mental Health Approach ---------------------------------------------------------- This approach is a positive approach, looking at mentally healthy, not mentally ill people. Results are bound to culture and the historic period. One criticism is that the criteria are hard to define, and the ideals are only related to our particular culture, and how can we rate a perception of reality? Finally, an interesting fact shown: if few people statistically ever achieve ideal mental health, are they the abnormal ones, or are the rest of us?
According to our text because of the difficult distinguishing normal from abnormal behavior, psychologists have struggled to devise a precise, scientific definition of “abnormal behavior” (Psychology and Your Life Feldam 2017). What is considered abnormal for some can be considered normal for others. The lifestyle practice that one chooses or the way an individual copes with life can differ amongst individuals. Deciding which coping style or preference is normal is or abnormal is generally is based off an individual's personal perception according to their own beliefs and practices.
Most people want to be normal. The definition of normal however, depends on the culture of the person making the judgment. Far too often, normal is defined in America by looking at the actions and beliefs of the average white middle class family. This definition of normal fails to let other cultures to be accepted, creating distance and misunderstanding.
According to the biological perspective, dysfunction/abnormality is caused by a few different things. However, most problems are linked to specific dysfunctions in areas within the brain, such as issues with the transmission of messages from neuron to neuron. Biological perspective theorist, study the brain, immune system, nervous system, and genetics looking for problems, which can all. Lead to dysfunction/abnormality when not working properly.
Scientists have been focusing on the impact of genes on behavior and the development of psychological disorders. This research has contributed to the understanding of many disorders, specifically substance-related disorders.
As we now know, "Girl, Interrupted" revolves around Susanna Kaysen and her personal experience of being put in a hospital and being diagnosed. The memoir also included several other individuals that she grew to know and socialized with over her extended stay at the facility. Though all of these women slept under the same roof, their disorders and conditions where all for the most part very different. The main characters worth noting were Susanna Kaysen, Lisa, Georgina Tuskin, and Daisy Randone. Let us first begin with Susanna. We were capable of seeing signs that she may have a case of borderline personality disorder. First of all, we knew that she attempted to take her life by consuming a bottle of aspirin. BPD is characterized as having frequent uncontrollable actions. Attempted suicide is common amongst BPD patients. She has had several partners in the past but was incapable of maintaining a long term relationship. BPD patients have a hard time maintaining relationships and usually can’t work relationships out. She was quick to get married at the end, showing her desire to find pr...
Abnormal Psychology Abnormal psychology in the area within psychology that is focused on maladaptive behavior-its causes, consequences, and treatment. Abnormal psychology deals with how it feels to be different, the meanings the get attached to being different, and how society deals with people whom it considers to be different. The spectrum of differences is wide, ranging from reality defying delusions and severe debilitations to worries and behavioral quirks that we would be better off not having but do not significantly interfere with our daily lives. An example of the milder end of the spectrum is a man who was an eminently successful district attorney, was elected governor of New York on three occasions, and was almost elected president of the United States in 1948. This man, Thomas E. Dewy, reached the pinnacle of success, displaying such qualities as rectitude, efficiency, precision, and nearly limitless capacity for hard work.
When I think of abnormal behavior, the first thing that comes to mind is one of my aunt’s. She committed suicide when I very young, so early 1970’s. As I got older, inevitably stories of her would arise during holiday get togethers. She was married with three children and in her early thirties, residing in Florida, when she walked out and away from her husband and small children. For over a year, no one knew what happened to her, she made no effort to contact anyone. Eventually, the Salvation Army somewhere in Michigan called my grandmother and they sent her home on a bus. She never returned to her husband or children. The doctors diagnosed her as a paranoid schizophrenic. My mother told me that when she was on her medication she was fine, but once she felt “fine”, she would stop her medication. When the medication left her system, she became anxious and afraid. She once chased my grandmother, who was in her late sixties down the driveway with an ax, because she thought her mother was trying to kill her. After several inpatient stays in mental hospitals, she came back home again and she was doing good. She left my grandmother’s one night while everyone was sleeping, made it approximately fifteen miles away to a lake.
According to Psychology in Action, “[r]ather than being fixed categories, both “abnormal” and “normal” behaviors exist along a continuum, and no single criterion is adequate for [i]dentifying all forms of abnormal behavior” (Huffman). There are four criteria used to determine whether behavior is abnormal. These are known as the four D’s. The first is deviance, this means that someones thoughts are different than those in the their culture and/or society. The second is dysfunction, this is when a person’s behavior is interfering with their everyday life and functions. The third is distress, this means that the person has a substantial amount of distress and unhappiness which can lead to risky or immoral actions. The fourth and final D is danger, this is when the person’s actions indicate that they are a danger to themselves and others.
Mental disorders plays pivotal role in a person’s actions. An insane or mentally ill person has a hard time controlling their actions and behavior. The criminal justice system is well aware that everyone does not have the same mental state. An insane person or a person who has no control over their actions, or thought process who commits a crime will be seen as incompetent to stand trial. Daily functions for those who suffer from a mental disorder are harder for them to deal with. There is no treatment for the illness, however there is treatment that could assist in making that person’s life easier and productive. The diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM) helps many clinicians diagnose certain mental disorders (Bartol, 2014). The DSM also can help officials link certain disorders with crime. With the help of the DSM it helps the criminal justice system realize that these disorders are the reason behind the defendant’s actions, versus it being free will. The disorders that are present in the DSM are also broken down into one of four categories: schizophrenic disorders, paranoid disorders, mood disorders and the personality disorder (Bartol, 2014). Although a person’sa mental state may be disoriented, they are still accountable for their actions if they commit a crime. While there are a select few people who suffer from a mental illness or disorder who cannot control their actions, there are also some who can. The insanity defense is also used and abused by some defendants seeking to receive a less punitive punishment. One major reason why the insanity defense was enforced in courts proceedings is because it will be cruel and unusual punishment to imprison someone who does not understand the charges they ar...
Malcolm Gladwell insists throughout his book, Outliers: The Story of Success, that the recipe for achievement is not simply based on personal talents or innate abilities alone. Gladwell offers the uncommon idea that outliers largely depend upon “extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies” (Gladwell19). According to Gladwell, successful men and women are beneficiaries of relationships, occasions, places, and cultures. The author draws on a different case study in each chapter to support a particular argument concerning success. Despite his indifference and suppression in regards to counterarguments, Gladwell’s claims are effective for many reasons, including through the accounts of experts, tone and style of writing, and the technique he utilizes when opening a chapter.
1. Your uncle consumes a quart of whiskey per day; he has trouble remembering the names of those around him.
Deviant theories from a positivist perspective are based on biological or social determinism. Determinism is the view that something “is determined or caused by forces beyond the individual’s control” (Thio, 2010, p. 7). Positivist sociologists apply the deterministic view to each individual deviant to determine the reason for his or her deviant behavior. Multiple theories from the positivist perspective try to explain the reason for deviant behavior. Phrenology and anomie-strain are two such theories that have been used to explain deviant behavior from this perspective.
Psychology is the deliberation of the mind and behavior and it pursues to assimilate people by comprehending mental function and social behavior. It reconnoiters the neurobiological and physiological developments that can initiative cognitive functions and behaviors. However, which motivates to apprehend mental procedures that thrusts psychologists to learn about the normal and abnormal behavior. And how we people adapt to these behaviors. Which bring us to question how we differentiate between adaptive and abnormal behavior? Both behaviors are completely different from each other because every society and culture has different understanding and perspective of adaptive and abnormal behaviors. What we believe as being adaptive and
The Psychodynamic Model of Abnormality The psychodynamic model of abnormality is useful to an extent. However it has many weaknesses. The psychodynamic model of abnormality was initiated by Sigmund Freud. Sigmund Freud was very interested in hysteria.
This assignment is going to outline four approaches to psychology. The approaches are: psychodynamic, biological, cognitive and behavioural approaches.