Chapter 1: What is Abnormal Psychology?
 Definition:
 difficult to define!! …
 concept differs across cultures & over time
Things to consider:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
 Please note:
–
to identify a person/behaviour is abnormal, no single criterion is either
necessary nor sufficient; typically a combination is used
–
Basing decision on 1 & 2 alone is problematic
• E.g., homosexuality …
 Cultural Bases of Normal Behaviour
II. Historical Concepts of Abnormality
 notions of what is abnormal, its causes & treatments have changed over time
 no necessary connection between such explanations & harsh/ethical treatment
Evidence from Prehistory
* supernatural causes
 Stone Age: trephination …
Greek Thought
* naturalistic causes
 Hippocrates
– Did not distinguish physical from mental illness; emphasized natural
causes …
– Hysteria …
– 4 humours:
• Blood, yellow and black bile, phlegm; if imbalance …
– Treatments primarily physical…
 Early medical model
Europe in the Middle Ages
* 500-1500 AD - supernatural!
 Belief in demonic possession
 Monasteries & pilgrimages; clergy
 Treatments: mild (e.g. prayer); over time (ideas of possession) ... exorcisms
 Changing ideas near the end
Witchcraft
* late 1400-1600s - supernatural!
 Beliefs …
 Water-float test; devil’s mark …
 Who were these women?
Asylums in Europe & the New World
 Starting late 1400s --- asylums!!
– Beggars
– Mentally disturbed …
 Appalling conditions!
 Examples …
The Reform Movement & Moral Therapy
 Pussin & Pinel (late 1700s/early 1800s) & La Bicêtre – humane treatment!!
 North America: Dorothea Dix (mid 1800s)
 Belief: suffer from diseases
Canada
 Late 1800s --- mental institutions ↑ in size → conditions ↓
 Pioneering work of Heinz Lehman (anti-psychotic medications & Sz)
 Deinstitutionalization!!
Pathways to the Present
 Medical Model
– Emil Kraeplin (1856-1926)
• Mental disorders like physical disorders; Cause may be biological
• 2 main classes:
– Dementia praecox
– Manic-depressive psychosis
– Support:
• General paresis …
 Psychological Model
– Charcot
• Hysteria - Psychological origins
• Hypnosis
– Can remove or induce symptoms …
 Psychological Model (continued)
– Breuer
• patient = Anna O
• belief: symptoms = transformation of blocked-up emotions
• treatment: catharsis …
–
Freud
• influenced by C & B
• unconscious!!; talking provides relief
• birth of psychoanalysis
 Sociocultural Models
–
–
–
Causes of abnormal behaviour = failures of society …
Szasz:
• “mental illness is no more than a myth” --- a stigmatizing label;
effects of labels: stigma, discrimination …
• “mental illness” = problems in living (not a disease)
Rosenhan (1973): On being sane in insane places