ABNORMAL

PSYCHOLOGY
AN INTRODUCTION TO ABNORMAL
PSYCHOLOGY
DEFINITION OF NORMALITY, ABNORMALITY
AND ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY
 NORMALITY : the term normal derives from the Latin
word ‘Norma’ equating with carpenter’s square, it is the
set of standards usually used for perception.
 ABNORMALITY :Abnormality is generally understood
as those behaviours and thought processes which are
commonly agreed to ne bizarre, odd, or unusual.
SCOPE OF ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY
 To differentiate normal from abnormal.
 To create awareness about mental health.

 To diagnose disorders.

 To prevent disorders.

 For prognosis.

 To promote good mental health

DEFINITION OF NORMALITY, ABNORMALITY AND
ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY
• “Abnormal psychology is an attempt to understand,
explain abnormal in the framework of normal”.
• “Abnormal psychology is the application of methods,
principles, concepts and findings of general psychology,
primarily psychology of sensation, perception, learning,
memory, developmental and social psychology to
understand the deviant behaviours and experiences”.
• “Abnormal psychology is concerned with scientifically
examining and highlighting the 'causes’ and 'factors’
associated with abnormal behaviour”.
MYTHS AND FACTS ABOUT ABNORMALITY
 Abnormality is invariably bizarre.
 Former mental patients are unpredictable, violent and
dangerous.
 Normal and abnormal behaviour are different in kind.

 Mental patients are possessed with demons/devils.

 Mental disorders are associated with parents/personal

karma /bad deeds done in previous birth.
 Mental disorders are associated with fundamental
personal deficiencies and hence they occur because
individual fails to correct the deficit.
 Inappropriate attitude towards mental disorders includes
fearfulness about one’s own forbidden and vulnerable
thoughts.
 STATISTICAL CRITERION
A. According to statistical criterion, to label normal as those
behaviors or traits which are frequent, typical, or commonly
occur in most people.
B. Definition of abnormality according to statistical criterion, “the
abnormal may be equated with strictly quantitative departure
from the statistical average”.
C. The NPC (Normal Probability Curve). Or bell shaped curve
places the majority of people in the middle as far as any
particular characteristic is concerned, very few people fall at
either extremes.
D. An assertion that a person is normal implies that he/she does not
deviate much from the average in a particular trait or behavior
pattern.
 STATISTICAL CRITERION
LIMITATIONS OF STATISTICAL CRITERION:
1. Problem of arbitrary division - a) the placement of the cutting
points that divide the functional distribution into normal and
abnormal regions are arbitrary.
b) People do not fall into the two simple classes of bright and
dull.
 STATISTICAL CRITERION
2. The problem of combining scores: a) sometimes it is desirable
to characterize as more or less deviant, or even a person rather
than a single trait or behavior. Therefore, it is necessary to
combine several measures into the total scores.
b) Hallucinations, psychological signs of anxiety, gaps in the
memory could be symptoms of abnormality. But when they are
combined, importance of each is lost unless they are combined in
a meaningful statistical approach. But that will be at the cost of
taking away the symptoms that are important or major.
 STATISTICAL CRITERION
3. Problem of different dimensions:
a) There may be more than one fundamental way of being
abnormal.
b) Neurosis and psychosis are two different forms of abnormality.
Accordingly the psychological complications of a neurotic is
centered around internal conflicts, anxiety, inability to ingrate
his drives with his moral standards and inhibitions ,where in
psychotics the psychological complications are centered around
failing to communicate meaningfully, disorganisation of
thoughts, behaviour and affect, irrational thought process and so
on.
 STATISTICAL CRITERION
4. Problem of Unequal extremes:
a) We are reluctant to term both extremes of the distribution as
abnormal. But according to this criterion, the gifted or the genius
is as abnormal as the mentally retarded, since, they fall into the
two extremes, however, there is a world of difference between
the sub normal (mentally challenged) and the super normal
(gifted or genius).
 SOCIAL CRITERION
Limitations of Social Criterion
1. Problem of Criminality:

a) It is important to distinguish “crime” from psychological

abnormality. Some criminals due to psychopathic tendencies
indulge in criminal activities thereby they trespass civil code of
conduct but, in this case their criminal activity is a secondary
consequence of the behaviour.
 SOCIAL CRITERION
2. The problem of Cultural Relativity:
What constitutes conformity in one culture may constitute non
conformity in another. Examples drawn from cultural
anthropologists demonstrates this. Eg hopi indians consider
competition abnormal.
3. Problem of Undesirable social standards:
According to this criterion majority is always right and minority is
always at fault. However, certain modern practices which have
promoted social well-being were initiated by the minority and for
no fault of theirs they were treated as abnormal at certain point of
time.
 PERSONAL DISCOMFORT CRITERION
Early psychologists realised that if the study is to be statistical it will
remove the human element. Personal discomfort criterion is an off
shoot of humanistic approach and existential school of
psychology.
Definition of abnormality according to personal discomfort criterion
is “if a person id depressed, unhappy, upset, or troubled by
inability to control his thoughts, emotions, he/ she is considered
abnormal.”
Normal is thus a personal comfort criterion. If an individual who is
relatively untroubled and indifferent to his inner state and to the
impression he makes on others, or if he manifests a state of well
being and euphoria, he is normal. There is always a clash between
subjectivity and objectivity.
 PERSONAL DISCOMFORT CRITERION
1 The problem of social consequences:
If fails to consider the effect of deviant behaviour on other people
for eg: a manic patient with his exaggerated expression may cause
injury to social well being. Therefore definition of normality and
abnormality cant be attempted by considering the individuals
opinion about it. Hence opinion on their own mental health can be
trusted leaving away from society.
 NORMALITY AS IDEAL CRITERION
The term ideal has many synonyms like prototypical, complete,
absolute, ultimate, archetypal, visionary, a standard of perfection,
flawless, classical. But we may also think ideal as imaginary,
fanciful, unreal, fantasy, mythical etc. normality is considered as a
harmonious optimal blending of diverse elements of the mental
and emotional functions. A normal person then becomes a
perfectly functioning ideal organizer.
It asserts that healthy people strive to live up to their potentialities,
to develop towards greater psychological maturity and to be able
to cope up with stress effectively and inability to participate in
these things is defined as abnormality.
 NORMALITY AS IDEAL CRITERION
According to this criterion normal behaviour is equated with perfect
of ideal behaviour.
This criterion also has flaws. The limitations of this criterion is as
follows:
1. The major flaw of this criterion lies in the fact that there exists
nothing like ideal, absolute or perfect.
2. The judgment of “ideal” is purely subjective. One may think the
life and behaviour of person X is ideal, other may not think so.
 NORMALITY AS IDEAL CRITERION
3. The model of ideals vary from situation to situation and in a
given situation from time to time and from person to person. The
behaviour which is considered ideal for a particular age in a
particular situation may altogether be labeled as abnormal in a
different age, era, or in a different situation.