Concept of abnormal behaviour

- Jahnavi Tiwari
- 214/UHA/001

Understanding Abnormal Behavior

To understand what abnormal behavior is, we first have to understand

what normal behavior is. Normal really is in the eye of the beholder, and
most psychologists have found it easier to explain what is wrong with
people then what is right. How so?

What is Normality?
Normality is behavior that is consistent in a person’s usual way of behaving. It
is conformity to societal standards as well as thinking and behaving similarly to
the majority, and as such is generally seen as good in this context. Normality is
also behavior that is expected and/or appropriate to the situation. It may also
be just being average, as is the case in psychological statistics. It involves being
able to adjust to the surroundings, manage or control emotions, being able to
work satisfactorily as well as build relationships that are fulfilling or at least
acceptable.

What is Abnormality?
Abnormality is any impairment in an individual’s functioning or maladaptation
to changes in life or the surroundings. It is behavior that is unusual, bizarre,
atypical or out of the ordinary. It is maladjustment to one’s society and culture,
exaggeration, perversion or violation of a society’s prevailing standards, and is
generally viewed as bad. It can be a lack or a deficit in a particular trait, like in
limited intelligence, or just being a statistical rarity as in being above genius. It
can also be a disorganization in personality or emotional instability. In
abnormal psychology, abnormality is defined as behavior that is deviant from
societal norms, distressing to the individual or to close relations, dysfunctional
to everyday living, or dangerous to self or others.

As for a more formal definition abnormality has been defined as – Behaviour

that deviates from what is considered typical or healthy particularly considered
as harmful or maladaptive

History of abnormal psychology

1) Early Renaissance
Individuals with mental disorders were often treated at home.
Local parishes began providing financial aid to families impacted by mental
illness.
Community mental health programs strove to provide gentle and respectful
treatment.

The humanism movement began.

As recognizing mental health disorders became more common during the early
Renaissance, hospitals and churches started operating as asylums to provide
widespread treatment. The patients in these asylums often had a low quality of
care due to overpopulation in the facilities and a staff that lacked knowledge
about mental illness. That soon changed with the introduction of scientific
questioning during the humanism movement.

The Renaissance humanism movement began during the 13th and 14th
Centuries. It was a system of education that originated in Italy and eventually
spread throughout out other parts of Europe. At the core of the Renaissance
humanism movement is the belief that humans should be shown
understanding and compassion. (3) During this time, doctors began utilizing
the power of suggestion on the human mind, which today is known as
hypnosis.

2) 18th Century
The beginning of the New Age Reform.
Commitment to asylums was still considered the norm, and inhumane
treatments were being phased out through education about mental illness.
William Tuke, an English businessman and philanthropist, opened the York
Retreat in England, a house that sought to provide humane treatment for
those with mental illnesses. (4)
The 18th Century was full of early psychologists who worked hard to educate
doctors on mental illnesses and how to appropriately treat them. Philippe
Pinel, a French physician, performed an experiment in 1792 that translated
into improved quality of care for patients. He helped deploy moral
management, which sought to treat those displaying abnormal behaviors
based on their social, individual, and occupational needs.

3) 19th Century
(1808) Franz Gall creates a content piece about phrenology, which is the
belief that the shape of a person’s skull reveals personality traits.
(1878) G. Stanley Hall becomes the first American to graduate with a
doctorate in psychology. Hall went on to create the American
Psychological Association.
(1886) Sigmund Freud developed his personality theory, which has
continued to impact abnormal psychology treatment methods today.
A large portion of patients who had been kept away from society for
decades improved very quickly due to respectful and humane treatment.
The moral treatment of patients was highly prioritized, but there was
still room for improvements in quality of care provided to patients.

Dorothea Dix played an instrumental role in the field of abnormal

psychology during the 19th Century. She investigated the challenges
 faced by mental health treatment centers and discovered underfunding
and an unregulated system contributed to the demise of humane
treatment. She lobbied for change and her efforts resulted in the
building of asylums for the first time in the United States. These asylums
utilized treatment methods that are considered unethical by today’s
medical standards, which were later removed from practice.

4) 20th Century
By the end of World War II, most psychologists specialized in particular
subdisciplines, with abnormal psychology being a chosen field of study.
Carl Rogers created client-centered therapy, which seeks to tailor
treatment methods according to the patient’s life goals and potential
achievements.
(1952) The first Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
was published.
Abnormal behaviors were viewed according to two perspectives:
psychogenic and somatogenic.
Existential philosophers created the existential view, which is a belief
that everyone has the freedom to find meaning in life or to avoid taking
responsibility for actions.
Psychogenic: the belief that the mental disorder has a psychological
origin rather than a physical origin.

Somatogenic: the belief that the mental disorder is derived from one or
more physiological origins rather than a psychogenic origin.

Once hypnotism gained widespread popularity in the 20th Century for its
effectiveness in treating abnormal behaviors, the psychogenic
perspective became widely accepted. It’s important to note, however,
that psychoanalytic treatment methods showed little promise in being
able to treat severely ill patients.

Deinstitutionalization became a common practice in the 20th Century,

and many state institutions were shut down. In 1963, the Community
Mental Health Centers Act was created to strengthen the future of
quality patient care. As a result, research facilities started garnering
substantial financial support, and the idea of community-based care
began to flourish.

Elements of abnormality
• Unpredictability and irrationality
• Maladaptiveness
• violation of standards of society
• suffering
• social discomfort
• statistical deviancy
• dangerousness

1) Suffering- people who suffer are depressed, experience psychological

pain, and may also have anxiety disorders, although suffering is an
element of abnormality in many cases it is neither a sufficient
condition (all that is needed) nor even a necessary condition (a
feature that allcases of abnormality must show) for us to consider
something as abnormal
2) maladaptiveness- maladaptive behavior interferes with our well
being and with our abilityto enjoy our work and our relationships, not
all disorders involve maladaptive behavior, eg. Conartist and contract
killer (behavior is abnormal but not maladaptive, because it is also
how theyearn their living), considered abnormal because their
behavior is maladaptive for and towardsociety
3) statistical deviancy- view that normal behaviors are those performed
by a statisticalmajority of people and that abnormal behaviors are
those that deviate from the majority,occurring rarely or infrequently,
considering statistically rare behavior does not necessarilyindicate
that the behavior is abnormal, eg. Being a genius, having perfect
pitch, we are morelikely to consider statistically rare behavior that is
undesirable, like mental retardation, asabnormal or something that is
undesirable but statistically common like rudness versusstatistically
rare behavior that is highly desirable such as great intellect
4) violation of the standards of society- all cultures have social rules or
formalized laws,when people fail to abide by these rules within their
cultures we may consider their behaviorabnormal, eg. Driving a car or
 watching TV would be highly abnormal for Amish people butwould be
considered an everyday normal activity for other Pennsylvania
residents, muchdepends on the severity of the violation and how
commonly the rule is violated by others, eg.parking illegally vs.
Drowning our children
5) social discomfort- when someone violates a social rule, those around
him or her mayexperience discomfort or unease, eg. In the movie
theater with tons of seats and someone comesand sits right next to
you or 10 urinals available and someone comes and pees right next
to you,behavior is considered abnormal
6) irrationality and unpredictability- if a person sitting next to you begins
screamingobscenities at nothing we would regard this behavior as
senseless and abnormal, unconventionalbehavior may have some
spice to life, like cliff diving but when the action is done out
characterand the motive is clearly unknown then we are more likely
to view it as irrational.

Causes of abnormality
There are different perspectives of causes of abnormal behaviour such as –

i. Biological perspective – Focuses on

Biological factors as the cause of abnormal behaviour. It is treated as an

‘illness’ and cured through ‘treatments’ such as drugs, etc. Instead of
psychological interventions.

ii. Evolutionary perspectives – It suggests that the brain evolved to solve

problems encountered by our ancestors. Mental processes exist to
serve the purposes of reproduction and survival. Hence, abnormal
behaviour may be an exaggerated form of an adaptive reaction.
 iii. Behavioural perspective – Abnormal behaviour develops due to
inappropriate learning or modelling. So therapy attempts to modify
such behaviour using principles of learning reinforcement, etc.

iv. Cognitive perspective – Recurrent, faulty thinking based on false

assumptions leads to maladaptive behaviour. Therapy

v. Psycho-analytic perspective – It emphasizes the role of the

unconscious mind and early childhood experiences. Psychological
disorders are a result of unresolved conflicts or urge that are rooted
in our primitive sexual and aggressive instincts.

Vi. Humanistic perspective – It explains that humans are driven to develop to

their fullest possible potential. Hence, any barriers will result in adjustment
problems.

Vii. Socio-cultural perspective – Societal expectations and cultural norms often

lead to maladaptive behaviour for e.g., poor body image and eating disorders
are often noticed in teenage girls as some cultures focus on a ‘slim, feminine’
shape.

Causes of abnormal behaviour can also be explained using two models:

A. Stress Diathesis model –

Diathesis refers to a predisposition or vulnerability of a person to

develop a particular disorder. According to the Stress-Diathesis model, a
disorder results from genetic factors (nature) as well as life experiences
(nurture). Those genetically predisposed towards a particular disorder
and experiencing environmental stress are more likely to show abnormal
behaviour.

b. Biopsychosocial model – The Biopsychosocial refers to the interaction

of biological, psychological and sociocultural factors in the development
of abnormal behaviour. If a child is brought up in inconducive
environmental conditions, it will make him/her vulnerable to abnormal
behaviour.