Concept of Normality and Abnormality

Concept of normality and abnormality is importent to known by every students related to psychology, psychiatry, social work, and other mental health related field.

1. Normality
&
Abnormality
Mr. SHIV PRAKASH
PhD Research Scholar
Department of Psychiatry,
IMS, BHU, Varanasi

2. Normal
and
Abnormal

4. Normality
A behavior can be normal in a society or culture but in other society
and culture it can be abnormal.
What'snormaltoday may be "abnormal" in the future. The concept
of normal is not an uncontroversial topic in psychiatry.
If something conforms to a general pattern, standard, or average, we
describe it asnormal, but of course that standard can change over
time.
AccordingtoG.W.Kisker,”Thewordnormalcomesfromthe
Latinnamesnormaliswhichmeansacarpenter’ssquare.Anorm,
thereforebecomesaruleorpatternorstandard,anditwasinthis
sensethatthewordintroducedintotheEnglishlanguage.”

5. Normalityimpliesadynamicadaptationtothechanging
environmentalconditionbutalsothevariationsfromamedia
considerednormalinsocialandculturalmilieu.
Normality-notionusedinpsychologytodefineacomplex
functionalanddynamicequilibriuminatotalityofactive
interferenceandinterdependencewiththeenvironment.

6. Definition of
Normality
Normalityhasbeendefinedaspatternsofbehaviororpersonality
traitsthataretypicalorthatconformtosomestandardofproperand
acceptablewaysofbehavingandbeing.
Hawker(2008),statesthatnormalmeansstandard,usual,ordinary,
conventional,expected,typicalcommon,regular,unremarkable,of
soundmindandcomposmentis.
TheWORLDHEALTHORGANIZATION (WHO)considers
normalitytobeastateofcompletephysical,mental,andsocial
well-being.

7. Characteristics of
Normal Personality
Mashlowand Mittleman(1951) has described 10 characteristics
ofanormalpersonality.Theseareasfollows:
1.Adequate feeing of security
2.Adequate Emotionally
3.Adequate Self Evaluation
4.Adequate desire and have ability to gratify them
5.Adequate Self Knowledge
6.Efficient Contact with reality
7.Integration and Consistency
8.Realistic Life Goals
9.Ability to learn from past experiences
10.Ability to satisfy the requirement of the group.

8. Abnormality
Thetermabnormalwasderivedfromtheword“Anomelos”,that
wasformedbyaddingtwowordsAno+Meloswhichmeans“Not
Regular”.
Itmeansabehaviorthatisnotregularcanbecalledabnormal.
AnothermeanofthetermAbnormalis“AwayfromNormal”.It
means,ifabehaviorissodifferfromnormalbehaviorthenitcan
becalledabnormalbehavior.

9. Definition o f
Abnormality
Abnormal psychological phenomenon are simply exaggeration or
disguised development of the normal psychological phenomenon.
J F Brown (1940)
Human behavior and experiences which are strange, unusual, or
different ordinarily are considered abnormal.
G W Kisker(1949)
Abnormalityisabehavior,thatisnotsociallyconfirmedand
developedbyasadorstressfulconditionanddistortedcognition.
Reiger(1998)

10. Criteria of
Abnormality
Personal Distress Criterion
•Inthiscriteriontheindividualassesshis/herownabnormal
behavior.
•Accordingtothiscriterion,Ifanindividual'sownbehavioris
stressfulforhim/heroritcreatesdiscomfortandforhim/herthenit
iscalledabnormalbehavior.
•Thiscriterionisgoodtoassesssimplementalillnessbutitcannot
besuitabletoassessalltheabnormalbehavior.

11. DisabilityCriterion
Accordingtothiscriterion,ifpersoncouldnotperformhistaskdueto
disabilityordysfunction,thisbehaviorwillbecalledabnormal.
Wakefield(1992)hasdescribeddysfunctionasataskwhichisnot
beingperformedbytheindividual,thoughheusedtoperformitbetter
earlier.
Thiscriterionhassomelimitations;theremanybehaviorsthat
mightnotbeabnormalduetoseveralothersexternalorinternalpredictor
variables.Ifapersonisnotabletoperformhistask,theremaybesome
physicalreasonbehindthissuchasanydiseaseoraccidentalinjury.

12. Criterion of Unexpectedness
AccordingtoDevisonandNeale(1996)thiscriterionisveryimportanttoassess
theabnormalityinaperson.
Asperthiscriterionifpersonperformanyunexpectedbehaviorinany
situation,itcanbecalledaabnormalbehavior.Inotherwords,abehaviorwhich
unexpectedasperthesituation,suchtypedofbehaviorcanbecalledabnormal
behavior.
Forexample,supposethatifperson'sbelovedonehasdiedandhe/she
don'tfeelsadbuthe/sheissmilingorlaughingatthattime.Sothisbehavioris
definitelyanabnormalbehavior.

13. Criterion of 4D’s
ThiscriterionwasdevelopedbyComer(1995).Thoughthereisno
anyuniversalcriteriontodescribedabnormalbutmanyofpsychologist
believedthatwithhelpofthe4d'scriterionwecanassesstheabnormalityina
person.
4D'scriterionareasfollows:
•Deviance
•Distress
•Dysfunction
•Danger

14. Characteristics of
Abnormality
Maslow and Mittleman(1951) has described some characteristics of an abnormal
personality. These are as follows;
•Abnormal person's have different symptoms than a normal.
•Suffering from unhappiness
•Less efficiency
•Excessive Defensiveness
•Poor Adjustment
•Lack of Insightful behavior
•Sensitivity and tension
•Less Enjoyment

15. Other Characteristics of Abnormality
•Lack of Self Evaluation
•Inadequate Emotional Control
•Lack of Attachment to reality
•Lack of Satisfaction
•Lack of Self Knowledge
•Disorganized personality (ID, Ego, Superego)
•Lack of realistic goal.
•Inability to use previous experiences
•Inability to work with social group (anti-social behavior)