Unit 12

Comes from the Latin norma.

Means a carpenter’s square.Refers to a rule, pattern, or standard by which to

measure the things a carpenter creates.

Ab = away from

Therefore, abnormal means away from normal or anything that is not normal.

1. Conforming to a standard; usual, typical, or expected.

2. Serving to establish a standard.3. Psychology

a. Approximately average in any psychological trait, as intelligence, personality, or emotional adjustment.

b. Free from any mental disorder; sane.

4. The average or mean.5. The standard or type.

What does it mean to be a normal person?

Who should decide what a person has to be like

in order to be described as normal?

Statistically

Contextually

Culturally

Statistically speaking, any behavior is atypical if it is not exhibited by 68% of the people in a particular group or culture. What common behaviors would be considered abnormal if we followed this definition of abnormality?

Who would suffer discrimination if this standard were enforced?

What religious practices would be considered abnormal for your community?

What ways of life would be abnormal? Single-parent households? Two-parent households?

What ethnic groups would be considered abnormal? What styles of dress? What music preferences? What

post-high school choices?

ContextThe set of circumstances or facts that surround a

particular situation, event, etc.

Brainstorm behaviors that, when taken out of context, could be considered abnormal.Examples:

Having a heated argument with someone.Praying aloud or chanting outside of a religious

service.Dancing in excitement over getting a good grade or

hearing good news.

Brainstorm historical practices that might be considered abnormal according to today’s standards of behavior.

Some cultures have different social practices that may be considered abnormal to people in U.S. culture:Hissing in JapanPublic displays of affection and gender, and the

use of straws in Thailand.

Some cultures have different social practices that may be considered abnormal to people in U.S. culture:Hissing is a polite way to show respect for

superiors in Japan.Public displays of affection between men and

women in Thailand are unacceptable. Interestingly, however, men holding hands is considered a sign of friendship.

Additionally, the use of straws in Thailand is considered vulgar.

What are the limits of tolerance? What types of cultural practices should we accept from other cultures and to what should we object?

Where should we draw the line…

Between sadness and depression?

Between zany creativity and bizarre irrationality?

Between normality and abnormality?

How should we define psychological disorders?

How should we understand disorders – as sicknesses that need to be diagnosed and cured, or as natural responses to a troubling environment?

How should we classify psychological disorders? And can we do so in a way that allows us to help people without stigmatizing them with labels?

psychological disorders - patterns of thoughts, feelings, or behaviors that are deviant, distressful, and dysfunctional.

Being different (deviant) from most other people in one’s culture is part of what it takes to define a psychological disorder.Deviant behavior will vary by context and

cultureTo be considered disordered, deviant

behavior usually causes the person distress.Deviant and distressful behaviors are more

likely to be considered disordered when also judged to be a harmful dysfunction.That is, to interfere with ones work and leisure.

Example:An intense fear of spiders may be deviant and

cause distress, but if it doesn’t impair your life it is NOT a disorder.

In earlier times, people explained puzzling behavior as resulting from the movement of the stars, godlike powers, or evil spirits.

Methods of “treatment” included caging, beating, burning, castration, trephination, pulling teeth, removing intestines, etc.

Philippe Pinel (1745-1826) insisted that madness is not demon possession but a sickness of the mind caused by severe stress and inhumane conditions.

Treatment began to shift from asylums to hospitals, brutality to gentleness, and isolation to activity.

medical model – the concept that diseases, in this case psychological disorders, have physical causes that can be diagnosed, treated, and, in most cases, cured, often through treatment in a hospital.

Today’s psychologists contend that ALL behavior (normal or abnormal) arises from the interaction of nature and nurture.

Nature Nurture Depression and Some disorders

are schizophrenia specific

to a occur worldwide. particular

culture.

Psychologists use the biopsychosocial approach to assess the whole set of influences: genetic predispositions

and physiological states inner psychological

dynamics social and cultural

circumstances

Mind and body are inseparable: Negative emotions contribute to physical illness, and

physical abnormalities contribute to negative emotions.

Purpose of classifying and diagnosing psychological disorders:Name itDescribe itPredict its future courseImply appropriate treatmentStimulate research into its causes

DSM-IV-TRA system or manual

with criteria for classifying psychological disorders.

Officially known as the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, updated as a 2000 “text revision”.