Definitions of Abnormality
...eviation from social norms¡¦ definition of abnormality lacks cultural universality. The deviation from social norms definition of abnormality states that anybody who fails to follow social norms is classed as abnormal. A social norm is a type of behaviour or belief that society finds acceptable. This lacks cultural universality as different cultures find different things acceptable. For example in some strongly Catholic cultures e.g. Mexico, hearing voices may be put down to divine intervention, whereas in a multicultural societies e.g. England, it is more likely to be diagnosed as a form of Schizophrenia. c) Outline and evaluate attempts by psychologists to define abnormality. Psychologists have developed four main definitions for abnormality, all of which have their own qualities and flaws. According to the statistical infrequency definition, anybody whose behaviour or characteristics are rare is considered to be abnormal. This model is based on the fact that most measurable factors of human behaviour have a natural curve, for example in a chart of IQ test results ¡V most people will be bunched up in the middle, whereas few people will have results below 80 and just as few will be over 130. There are some problems with this system of defining abnormality. - Where is the cut off point for abnormality? If someone is in the bottom 10%, they may be seen as abnormal, and the same applies for someone in the bottom 1%. - No desirability rating, someone who¡¦s incredibly intelligent could be seen as equally abnormal as someone who is mentally handicapped. - Some recognised mental illnesses are increasing in the number of recorded cases, for example: Depression, and according to the statistical infrequency model the disorder could soon be not recognised as an abnormality. As mentioned before - deviation from social norms is a method that involves defining anyone that does not conform to what society expects of them as being abn...