Psychology Year 1 Psychopathology

Numerically unusual behaviour or characteristic such as IQ

Bottom or top 1% of a population.

Eval:

Simple means of assessign patients so good real life application.

Unusual characteristics can be positive and don't require treatment.

Not everyone unusual benefits from a label.

Social norms can be used to define what is abnormal. Norms will vary from society to society and depend on who you are with. (culture specific)

If you do not fit a social norm, you are abnormal. (Not necessarily bad)

Evaluation:

Cultural Relativism - Unfair to judge someone from another culture.

Can lead to human rights abuse - Social norms can maintain control over minority groups, eg women.

Social norms change over time e.g Women in workplace.

Social norms depend on context.

Social norms depend on who sets the norm, cultural and ideological. No global definition of abnormality.

Someone who engages in behaviours which are not good for them. E.g Anorexic people.

Rosenhanand seligman signs:

When a person no longer conforms to standard interpersonal rules, personal space.

When a person experiences severe personal distress.

When a person's behaviour becomes irrational or dangerous to themselves or others.

Eval:

Adequacy depends on culture, differences in culture define what is to function adequately.

Abnormal behaviours are not always bad. e.g a soldier killing someone in a war.

Jahoda said that normality is a state of mental health. Several criteria to meet to have positive mental health. If they are not met then you are abnormal.

6 characteristics:

• Positive view of self - feelings of self worth.
• Actualisation - one must be the best they possibly can.
• Autonomy - one must show independent behaviours.
• Accurate view of reality - not have a distorted view of reality
• Resistance to stress - one must be able to deal with regular situations.
• We have a realistic view of the world.

Eval:

• Some of jahodas criteria are hard to achieve.
• Everyone perceives reality in a different way.
• Soem cultures may not consider the criteria as healthy standards. e.g Collectivist cultures not want to meet autonomy.