Abnormality Is Very Difficult to Define

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‘Abnormality is very difficult to define. It can be hard to decide where normal behaviour ends and abnormal behaviour begins’ Discuss. There are three main definitions of psychological abnormality which include; deviation from social norm, failure to function adequately and deviation from mental health. Gradually over time, society has developed certain rules, both written and unspoken, to which we are to conform. Examples of domestic normalities would be how people within the UK will automatically queue when waiting for something or apologise immediately when colliding with another. There are medical social abnormalities as well, Schizophrenia, kleptomania and obsessive compulsive disorder. However when diagnosing psychological abnormalities the context of the behaviour and cultural relativity must be taken into account. For example cultural beliefs have a heavy influence over what a certain countries consider to be socially unacceptable or abnormal. Queuing for instance, while completely acceptable in the United Kingdom, isn’t as heavily practiced in other countries as it isn’t deemed necessary and it wouldn’t be considered strange to not queue. Many countries also have superstitions of not stepping on cracks in the pavement, which may seem eccentric to an uninformed onlooker but is completely normal for a certain group of individuals and so cannot be said to be a deviation from social norms as it relates to a social norm somewhere. Schizophrenia, kleptomania and obsessive compulsive disorder on the other hand, are straightforward and relatively easy to diagnose as it is simple to determine what behaviour is completely abnormal to regular social acts. Failure to function adequately is also another definition of what could be considered a psychological abnormality. Normally an individual would build up a routine for themselves that is similar to others;
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