What Is Normal and Abnormal?

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Chapter 1

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AAman
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Copyright 2004 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Standards For What Is

Normal and Abnormal
Cultural

relativism
Unusualness of behavior
Discomfort of the person exhibiting the
behavior
Mental illness

Chapter 1

Copyright 2004 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Standard 1: Cultural Relativism

No

universal standards or rules for labeling

a behavior as abnormal.
Instead, behaviors can only be abnormal
relative to cultural norms.
Example: In many cultures, family
members sleep together in one room,
often in the same bed. In the U.S., it is
considered normal for a baby to sleep in
her own bed in her own room.
Chapter 1

Copyright 2004 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Gender Role Expectations

How

are men expected to act? What types of

behaviors are discouraged?

How

are women encouraged to act? What

types of behaviors are discouraged?

Chapter 1

Copyright 2004 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Standard 2: Unusualness
Is

the behavior rare?

(Depends in part on the norms for that behavior in a

culture.)

Chapter 1

Copyright 2004 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Standard 3: Discomfort

Proponents of this view argue that a behavior is only

abnormal if the individual suffers as a result of the
behavior(s) and wishes to be rid of them.
Some therapists object to the subjective discomfort
criterion because people are not always aware of
problems that their behavior may create for
themselves or others.

Chapter 1

Copyright 2004 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Standard 4: Mental Illness

Is

the behavior caused by an identifiable

disease?
There is no medical test that identifies this
process if it does exist.

Chapter 1

Copyright 2004 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Maladaptiveness

Does the behavior prevent normal daily

functioning?
Does the person suffer distress?
Is there emotional or physical harm?

Chapter 1

Copyright 2004 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Historical Perspectives
Biological

theories

Similar to physical disease, breakdown of some

systems of the body.

Supernatural

theories

Divine intervention, curses, demonic

possession, and personal sin.

Psychological

Chapter 1

theories

Mental disorders as the result of trauma(s).

Copyright 2004 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Ancient Theories
Stone

age

Spirit possession
Trephination

Ancient

China

Yin and Yang

Emotions controlled by internal organs

Chapter 1

Copyright 2004 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Ancient Theories, continued

Ancient

Egypt, Greece and Rome

Dominated by natural theories

Hysteria

Medieval

views

Witchcraft
Psychic epidemics

Chapter 1

Copyright 2004 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Growth of Asylums During the

Renaissance

As early as the twelfth century hospitals began to

include special rooms for people with mental
disorders.

Treatment was often inhumane.

Example: Bedlam

Asylums were established and run by people who

thought mental disorders were medical illnesses.

Example: Benjamin Rush

b
Chapter
1

Copyright 2004 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Moral Treatment Of the 18th Century

Movement toward a more humane treatment of the

mentally ill
Psychological view
People become mad because they are
separated from nature and succumb to the
stresses imposed by the rapid social
changes of the period.

Chapter 1

Copyright 2004 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Modern Perspectives
New

classification systems
Discovery of the cause of general paresis

Chapter 1

Copyright 2004 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Modern Perspectives, continued

Psychoanalytic

perspective
Roots of behaviorism
Cognitive revolution

Chapter 1

Copyright 2004 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Patients Rights Movement

Mental patients could recover more fully or live more

satisfying lives if they were integrated into the

community, with the support of community-based
treatment facilities.

Chapter 1

Copyright 2004 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Professions Within Abnormal

Psychology
Psychiatrists
Clinical psychologists
Clinical social workers
Psychiatric nurses
Chapter 1

Copyright 2004 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.