ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY
MODULE 1: DEFINING AND CLASSIFYING ABNORMAL BEHAVIOUR
ENGAGE:
- Psychology is a science that seeks to explain, measure and sometimes change the behaviour of man and
animals.
- Psychology has various fields, one of which is Abnormal Psychology.
What is Abnormal Psychology?
- The field devoted to the scientific study of abnormal behaviour to describe, predict, explain, and change
abnormal patterns and functioning.
EXPLORE:
Why definitions are important (& tricky)?
- Definitions are powerful because they shape the way individuals are viewed, treated, and respected
within our culture.
- It is also tricky because they rarely fully encompass the wide range of behaviours that people
demonstrate.
Defining Abnormal Behaviour
- In a sense, all people make judgements about normality in that all express opinions about others’ and
perhaps their own mental health.
- Formal diagnoses of psychological disorders are made by mental health professionals.
EXPLAIN
- Criteria of Abnormal Behaviour (The “4 D’s” of Abnormality )
- There are four general criteria that psychologists use to identify abnormal behaviour.
DEVIANCE
- There are three different types: deviation from social norms, statistical frequency, and
deviation from an ideal.
a. Deviation from Social Norms
- The social norms approach says that a behaviour is considered abnormal if it
deviates greatly from accepted social standards, values or norms.
- However, a definition of abnormality based solely on deviations from social norms
change with time.
- Ex. 25 years ago, very few males wore earrings, while today many males consider
earrings very fashionable.
, - Similarly, 40 years ago, a woman who preferred to be thin was considered to be ill
and in need of medical help.
- Today, society pressures women to be thin like fashion models in the media.
- There are a number of influences on social norms that need to be taken into account
when considering the social norms definition:
Culture
- Different Cultures and subcultures have different social norms.
Culture - Bound Syndromes
- Some patterns of abnormal behaviour, called culture bound
syndromes, occur in some cultures, but are rare or unknown in others.
- Examples of Culture - Bound Syndromes from other culture:
o Dhat Syndrome
- A disorder affecting males, found principally in
India, that involves intense fear or anxiety over
the loss of semen through nocturnal emission,
ejaculation, or excretion of urine (in fact, semen
doesn’t mic with urine).
- In Indian culture, there is a popular belief that loss
of semen depletes a man of his vital natural
energy.
o Ataque de nervios (“attack of nerves”)
- A way of describing states of emotional distress
among Latin American and Latin Mediterranean
groups.
- It most commonly involves features such as
shouting uncontrollably, fits of crying, trembling,
feelings of warmth or heat rising from the chest
to the head, and aggressive verbal or physical
behaviour.
- These episodes are usually precipitated by a
stressful event affecting the family (e.g. receiving
news of the death of a family member) and are
accompanied by feelings of being out of control.
- After the attack, the person returns quickly to his
or her usual level of functioning, although there
may be amnesia of events that occurred during
the episode.
Context and Situation
- At any one time, a type of behaviour might be considered normal
whereas another time the same behaviour could be abnormal,
depending on both context and situation.
Historical Context
- Time must be also taken into account, as what is considered abnormal
at one time in one culture may be normal another time, even in the
same culture.
MODULE 1: DEFINING AND CLASSIFYING ABNORMAL BEHAVIOUR
ENGAGE:
- Psychology is a science that seeks to explain, measure and sometimes change the behaviour of man and
animals.
- Psychology has various fields, one of which is Abnormal Psychology.
What is Abnormal Psychology?
- The field devoted to the scientific study of abnormal behaviour to describe, predict, explain, and change
abnormal patterns and functioning.
EXPLORE:
Why definitions are important (& tricky)?
- Definitions are powerful because they shape the way individuals are viewed, treated, and respected
within our culture.
- It is also tricky because they rarely fully encompass the wide range of behaviours that people
demonstrate.
Defining Abnormal Behaviour
- In a sense, all people make judgements about normality in that all express opinions about others’ and
perhaps their own mental health.
- Formal diagnoses of psychological disorders are made by mental health professionals.
EXPLAIN
- Criteria of Abnormal Behaviour (The “4 D’s” of Abnormality )
- There are four general criteria that psychologists use to identify abnormal behaviour.
DEVIANCE
- There are three different types: deviation from social norms, statistical frequency, and
deviation from an ideal.
a. Deviation from Social Norms
- The social norms approach says that a behaviour is considered abnormal if it
deviates greatly from accepted social standards, values or norms.
- However, a definition of abnormality based solely on deviations from social norms
change with time.
- Ex. 25 years ago, very few males wore earrings, while today many males consider
earrings very fashionable.
, - Similarly, 40 years ago, a woman who preferred to be thin was considered to be ill
and in need of medical help.
- Today, society pressures women to be thin like fashion models in the media.
- There are a number of influences on social norms that need to be taken into account
when considering the social norms definition:
Culture
- Different Cultures and subcultures have different social norms.
Culture - Bound Syndromes
- Some patterns of abnormal behaviour, called culture bound
syndromes, occur in some cultures, but are rare or unknown in others.
- Examples of Culture - Bound Syndromes from other culture:
o Dhat Syndrome
- A disorder affecting males, found principally in
India, that involves intense fear or anxiety over
the loss of semen through nocturnal emission,
ejaculation, or excretion of urine (in fact, semen
doesn’t mic with urine).
- In Indian culture, there is a popular belief that loss
of semen depletes a man of his vital natural
energy.
o Ataque de nervios (“attack of nerves”)
- A way of describing states of emotional distress
among Latin American and Latin Mediterranean
groups.
- It most commonly involves features such as
shouting uncontrollably, fits of crying, trembling,
feelings of warmth or heat rising from the chest
to the head, and aggressive verbal or physical
behaviour.
- These episodes are usually precipitated by a
stressful event affecting the family (e.g. receiving
news of the death of a family member) and are
accompanied by feelings of being out of control.
- After the attack, the person returns quickly to his
or her usual level of functioning, although there
may be amnesia of events that occurred during
the episode.
Context and Situation
- At any one time, a type of behaviour might be considered normal
whereas another time the same behaviour could be abnormal,
depending on both context and situation.
Historical Context
- Time must be also taken into account, as what is considered abnormal
at one time in one culture may be normal another time, even in the
same culture.
