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This document provides a well-condensed summary and enough detailed notes for Psychopathology Definitions of Abnormality.
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Definitions of AbnormalityIn this Topic we will be looking at 4 ways that abnormality can be defined as, as well as
some of their strengths and weaknesses of each Definition.
❏ Statistical Infrequency
❏ Deviation from Social Norms
❏ Failure to Function Adequately
❏ Deviation from Ideal Mental Health
Statistical infrequency
This Definition defines abnormality by using numbers (statistics), occurs when an
individual has a less common characteristic then the majority of the population either
more depressed or less intelligent. They deviate from the ‘average’. This is then based of
the normal distribution (most humans would fall into this category)
Example - IQ and Intelligence Disability Disorder
An average IQ is 100, in a normal distribution most people score 68%. Although the 2%
people who scored below 70 are considered unusual and ‘abnormal’ and would receive a
diagnosis of intellectual disability disorder.
Strengths
● Real-world application-can be used in clinical practices, part of a formal diagnosis
as a way to check the severity of an individual's symptoms.
● Offers clear guidelines for identifying behaviour as normal or abnormal.
● Benefits of being labelled, may receive help and support to treat the disorder by a
professional.
Weaknesses
● Unethical to label someone as abnormal as they may feel unmotivated and think
that they can't live their life to their fullest. Also shows that some individuals may
be inaccurately defined as abnormal.
● Do Not take in consideration of unusual characteristics even though they can be
positive. Highly intelligent people are rare.
● Ethnocentric in nature as there are different cultures, fails to be generalized
and applied to every culture.
, AO3 Paragraphs- Evaluation
One strength of this definition is that it has been useful. For example, it’s been useful in
identifying a range of formal diagnosis and the severity of an individual's symptoms by
comparing it to normal distributions, the BDI allows us to statistically identify the severity
of an individual depression. Due to the applicability, it suggests that the criteria used in
diagnostic and assessment processes is valid as it holds great value within these
institutions’ and setting. This suggests that this is a good definition in identifying
abnormality.
One weakness of this definition is it fails to take into account that infrequent
characteristics can be desirable. For instance, IQ scores over 130 are just as unusual as
those below 70, but we wouldn’t think of someone as abnormal for having a high IQ. These
examples show that being unusual or at one end of a psychological diagnosis doesn’t make
someone abnormal. This shows that it’s not valid enough and less generalizable to the
wider population, because it doesn't take into account other characteristics that may not
be abnormal . Although statistically infrequency is part of an assessment and a diagnostic
procedure, it can never be enough to use as a sole basis in diagnosing abnormality.
Also, not all statistically infrequent individuals will benefit from a label. For instance,
someone with a low IQ who can cope with their chosen lifestyle would not benefit from a
label, there is a social stigma.
● This can lead to them having a negative view of themselves and others may
change the way they view the individuals, links to ethics.
● This shows that statistical infrequency has some ethical issues as it alienates a
person’s freedom of individuality, due to its way of diagnostic procedures.
However, some people may benefit from a label, for example someone who has a very
low IQ and is diagnosed with an intellectual disability can then access support services
to help them. Overall, this shows that by labelling people may be beneficial as it will
give them support to cope with their lifestyles, meaning this definition is accurately
diagnosing people.
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