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DEFINITIONS OF ABNORMALITY - Coggle Diagram
DEFINITIONS OF ABNORMALITY
Statistical infrequency
according to the statistical definition any relatively usual behaviour or characteristic can be thought of as 'normal' and any behaviour that is unusual is 'abnormal'
eg. IQ, average IQ is set at 100 (range from 80-115). only 2% of people have scores below 70. those scoring below 70 are very unusual or abnormal. likely to receive diagnosis for intellectual disability disorder
occurs when an individual has a less common characteristic, for example being more depressed or less intelligent than most of the population
statistical infrequency evaluation
strength
statistical infrequency is used in clinical practice, both as a part for formal diagnosis and as a way to assess the severity of an individuals symptoms
this shows that the value of the statistical infrequency criterion is useful in diagnostic and assessment processes
real world application
limitations
for every IQ below 70 there is another with an IQ above 130. we would not think of someone as abnormal for having a high IQ
This means that being unusual does not necessarily make some abnormal. it should not be the sole basis for defining abnormality
infrequent and unusual characteristics can be positive as well as negative
deviation from social norms
groups of people choose to define behaviour as abnormal on the basis that it offends there sense of what is 'acceptable' of the norm
social norms may be different for each generation and different in every culture, so there are relatively few behaviours that would be considered universally abnormal on the basis that they breach social norms
concerns behaviour that is different from the accepted standards of behaviour in a community or society
deviation from social norms evaluation
strengths
used in clinical practice, for example, the key defining characteristic of antisocial personality disorder is the failure to conform to culturally acceptable ethical behaviour ie. reckless, aggression, violating the rights of others
these signs are all deviations of from social norms
real world application
this shows that the deviation from social norms criterion has value in psychiatry
limitations
limitation is the variability between social norms in different cultures and different situations
one cultural group may label someone from another group as abnormal using their standards
cultural and situational relativism
this means it is difficult to judge deviation from social norms across different situations and cultures