Adv/Disadv - Deviation from Social Norms

Evaluation

Although this definition provides a way of identifying and diagnosing abnormality in any culture, the standards of one culture cannot be generalised to all cultures; someone who is considered to be abnormal in one culture may be considered as 'normal' in another. Deviation from social norms may be used to justify the removal of an unwanted person from a society, for example, if they oppose a majority opinion; this does not make them abnormal. Furthermore, what is considered to be normal or abnormal can change over time. For example, in 1974 the DSM considered homosexuality as a disorder, but this diagnosis was soon dropped because they found homosexuality was not as infrequent as they had thought; homosexuals were also found to be the same as heterosexuals in terms of psychological well-being. This suggests that deviation from social norms is too discriminatory  and subjective as a definition of abnormality.