Abnormal Behavior

Abnormal behavior was once viewed as an embarrassment to society. Those who suffered from a mental illness or displayed abnormal behavior were locked away and never spoken of. Today abnormal behavior is viewed much differently. With the study of psychology and the help of the medical field, abnormal behavior has become better understood. This essay will discuss the major theories for the cause of abnormal behavior, how abnormal behavior is diagnosed and what type of behavioral issues are related to abnormal behavior.

Abnormal behavior is defined as a psychological dysfunction within an individual associated with distress or impairment in functioning and response that is not typical or culturally expected (Durand, 2005). There are currently six influential theoretical perspectives. The first one is the biological perspective. The biological perspective is a medical point of view. It is a theory that believes that lack of or defects in the structural or functional integrity of the nervous system lead to abnormal behavior. It tries to explain individual’s behavior in terms of biological principles such as structural problems, disease and genetics.

The brain plays an important part in how a body functions. Abnormalities in the brain may cause abnormal behavior. Abnormalities are sometimes genetically inherited. Each cell in the human body and the human brain contains twenty three pairs of chromosomes. Each chromosome consists of a pair which was inherited from one of the individual’s parents. Each chromosome contains many genes. A gene is a tiny structure inside of the chromosome that is responsible for transferring heredity.

Genes can make people more prone to certain defects and diseases. Genes can make peopl...

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...ll should anyone feel like hiding just because they can not sleep at night?

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Durand, V. M. and Barlow, D. H., (2005). Abnormal psychology: An integrative approach (4th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

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