Understanding Abnormal Psychology: Disorders, Behaviors, and Criteria for Abnormality

In this document we will discuss about Understanding Abnormal Psychology and below are the summary points of this document:- Abnormal psychology encompasses a wide range of disorders and behaviors that deviate from the norm. Three main criteria for defining abnormality include statistical infrequency, violation of social norms, and failure to function adequately. These criteria help determine abnormal behavior based on statistical comparisons, societal rules, and the individual's ability to meet everyday demands.

Running Head: Abnormal Psychology
Abnormal Psychology
Essay
System04104
1/31/2019

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PART-1
The term ‘abnormal psychology’ covers a wider range of disorder such as obsessive-
compulsive disorder or other disorder that includes angry, depression, obsessive, stress, etc. It
is a part of psychology that helps in the study the behaviour pattern of a person that shows
abnormality of the person. It is also called psychopathology. Abnormality can be defined on
the following basis:
1. Statistical Infrequency:
The behaviour of a person under the statistical frequency can be defined on the basis of
human behaviour pattern and thinking style that compares with another set of measures
already exist to measure human behaviour. Through this definition it can be said that mental
condition and behaviour of a person are the major cause to determine the abnormality of a
person. For instance, it can be said that a person lesser or higher IQ level in comparison to
average IQ of society in which he belongs, is treated as abnormal (Boysen, Wells, and
Dawson, 2016).
However, the statistical infrequency method fails to measure the desire and undesirable
behaviour pattern of a person. This statistical method has another limitation that it has
nothing to do with abnormality or normality (Wright and Simms, 2015). In this method of
abnormal psychology, it has been stated that behaviour pattern of a person determines the
abnormality and the how frequently it can be seen in the person’s behaviour. Because, if a
person do something quiet usual, then he/she will be considered normal person, but if does
something quite abnormally, he will be treated mentally unsound person.
2. Violation of social norms:
According to this definition of Abnormal psychology, the abnormality in a person can be
explained on the basis of violation of the social rules and regulations. If the behaviour of a
person in the social causes danger or uncomfortable for other people in the society, then it
can be treated as a violation of social norms and person will be treated as an abnormal person.
Every society has their own set of rules and regulations that is compulsory for all the people
in the society, but if a person does not obey or follow the societal rules and regulations, then
he will be treated as an abnormal person (Butcher, Mineka, and Hooley, 2017). There are

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large numbers of factors that determine the abnormal behaviour of a person such as culture,
ethos, values, norms, age, and gender etc.
However, the constraint of this abnormal behaviour is that there is not a single or a common
social rule to determine this abnormal behaviour of a person. Every society follows some
unique and some different social norms and regulation and it may be possible that a sound
minded person can act inversely in two different places or two different society.
3. Failure to function Adequately:
If a person is unable to manage the demands of their everyday life, he/she may be treated as
an abnormal person. If a person fails to perform daily schedules in an abnormal ways such as
not talking normally, not eating normally, or does not follow the daily schedule, not properly
self-arranged or does not behave properly with other people then the person can be treated as
an unsound minded person or a person who is abnormal. If a person suffering from
maladaptive behaviour or violates social rules and regulations or nor following the social
standards, then it might be possible that person is suffering from abnormality. The above
disorders and characteristics are some examples of abnormal behaviour of a person.
The big drawback of this definition of abnormal psychology is that it helps the person in
keeping them happy and joyful. Just as an example, a man who is anguish from this type of
mental disorder or obsessive disorder of face and hand washing before sleeping, then it can
be said that this behaviour of that person makes him happy (Yahata, et.al, 2016). With this
abnormal behaviour, the person may feel better and can cope up with their daily life problems
and schedules.
4. Deviation from ideal mental health:
Under this definition of abnormal psychology, the psychology considers that person as
abnormal who is not in his mental ideal condition. According to Jahoda, there are six mental
conditions such as independence in life, positive view of self, autonomy in self-work etc.
A big drawback of this psychological model is that it is very difficult for a person to attain all
these perfect mental conditions through out of his life.

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PART-2
There are two different kind of abnormal psychology that defines the abnormal psychology in
a person. These two types of abnormalities models in psychology are biological models, and
psychological models. The psychological model includes three types of sub psychological
models that are psychodynamic models, behavioural models, and cognitive models.
1. Biological Model:
The biological model is constructed on the theory that abnormality is a result of biological
imperfection in the body. Brain injury, genetic inheritance, chemical imbalance, viral
infections, etc. are the major cause behind the biological model of abnormal psychology.
Biological model of abnormal psychology is not evolved in a person due to human act or
behaviour rather it causes because of some by birth defectiveness in the body (Lowyck, et.al,
2017).
One of the major drawbacks of the biological disorder is that it is too difficult to find out the
causes of abnormality and its effect on human body, and how it cause abnormality in the
person. Physical illness and mental illness are the other two things that are causing biological
abnormality in person, which may be, evolve after birth or may be in the person by born as
well.
2. Psychological Model:
There are three types of sub-models of psychological model that can best describe the
psychological abnormality in a person. These three models are as follow:
1. The Psychodynamic Model
This model based on the assumption that abnormality causes because of psychological causes
rather than physical causes. This model was first given by Sigmund Freudd in late 1890s.
Freudd considered id, ego, and superego in this model to define the psychodynamic model
(Ridenour, 2016).
2. The Behavioural model
The behavioural model is based on human acts and behaviour pattern. Many Behaviourists
thinks surroundings have the major role in forming behaviour in a human being and they
reject the biological cause of abnormality and give more emphasis on behaviour pattern of

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people and their actions. One of the important examples of the behaviour model of
abnormality is the maladaptive disorder. For example, classical conditioning is the best way
to understand a person why person is fear from heights (McKay, et.al, 2015).
3. The Cognitive Model:
The Cognitive model based on the assumption that the thoughts of a person are the major
factors that determine the behaviour of a person. This model explains how a person finds or
retrieve the information, how person process the information in the mind, and shown it in
his/her behaviour and acts (Carragher, Krueger, Eaton, and Slade, 2015). According to the
cognitive approach, the maladaptive behaviour of a person is caused by illogical perceptions
and faulty thinking. In other words, it shows how a person looks at the situation. If a person
feels a normal situation as a problem even it is not, then it is considered as a type of mental
disorders (Hofmann and Otto, 2017).
Biological and psychological model of abnormality and Eating
Disorder
Eating disorder treated as a big problem in modern days of life where large number of people
facing psychological and biological psychological disorders. It is gradually increases in
people day by day more attention is given by the many health professionals on this health
issue (Leehr, et. al, 2015).
According to Costa, et.al, (2016), one of the major biological causes behind the eating
disorder is that it retrieves from family members and their eating habits. It has been seen that
normally people follow the style of their family members such as they learn from their
siblings, from family members, or from friends that how they eat. The mental conditions of
people are also responsible for eating disorder that has been also considered under the
biological model of mental disorder. Beck and Bredemeier (2016) stated in their article that
eating disorder also causes because of aggression, anxiety, depression, and addiction that
already exists in the family and it has a tendency to transfer one generation to another
generation such as from parents to their sons.
Murray, Griffiths, and Mond (2016) defined in his research paper that the recent psychology
of youths are the major causes of eating disorder such as perfectionism in body shape. If we
consider eating disorder then found that a large number of people especially youngsters are

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crazy about the perfectionism and more thinks about their diet plan that how to eat and what
to eat (Norcross, et.al, 2016). It can be observed that people especially youth are setting
unrealistic target or a high expectations for their self to achieve such as making body like as
WWE fighters and they want to make their body like them and that results in high level of
misbalance in their diet plan and that causes eating disorder. Those people, who are not
satisfied with their body shape or body images, are trying something different related to their
eating habits and it leads to the eating disorder (Olguin, et.al, 2017). There are so many
research conducted on eating disorder and it was found most of the people who are suffering
from an eating disorder, including two third of those people are suffering from maladaptive
disorder and they are also suffering from anorexia. The eating disorder is the post effect
disorder, which arises in people after cognitive and psychodynamic abnormality of people.

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