Limitations Of Abnormality Using Biological And Psychological Model

Outline the various definitions of abnormality and discuss the limitations associated with attempts to define abnormality. Also explain abnormality using biological and psychological model Psychologists must be careful when identifying abnormal behaviour - labeling someone as 'abnormal' they are labeling them as "sick" "insane" or "mentally ill", and risk distorting the perceptions of the individual, resulting in social stigmatization.(Lilienfield, 1995). Psychologists must employ four key methods to assess and identify abnormality, however, each of these definitions contain their own limitations.

With statistical infrequency; individual characteristics of the population can be measured and graphed, providing a visual and statistical representation

However, social norms are era and culture dependant, for instance, homosexuality was considered a psychological disorder until social norms and empirical data led the board of directors of the American Psychiatric Association to remove it from the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (Herek, 1997). This approach is also susceptible to abuse and has been abused politically, diagnosing public resistance as mentally ill and forcing therapy upon them - this occurred during the Nazi era and soviet rule (Clare,

Claims of 'ideal mental health' are value judgments and vary between psychologists (Mcleod, 2008). Maria Jahoda's (1958) identification includes 6 characteristics required in order for a person to be considered 'normal', self-actualization is part of the criteria, according to this list most people would be considered abnormal, even Maslow states that the majority do not achieve self-actualization (Gross, 1992). This approach is also criticized for being ethnocentric, as the criteria is devised by middle class Caucasian men, therefore, they are limited to application only to western culture (Mcleod,