Understanding
Abnormality
A Look at History
and
Research Methods
Do you think any of these behaviors
are ABNORMAL?
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Having a “lucky” seat in an exam?
Being unable to eat, sleep, or study for days after
the breakup of a relationship?
Refusing to ear solid food for days to stay thin?
Thorough hand-washing after riding a bus?
Believing government agents monitor your
phone calls?
Drinking a 6-pack daily to be “sociable”?
Abnormal Behavior:
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Distress
Impairment
Risk to self or other people
Socially and culturally unacceptable behavior
Causes of Abnormality
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Three dimensions of the causes of abnormality:
Biological
 Psychological
 Sociocultural
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Social Scientists use the term BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL to
characterize the interactions among these three
dimenstions.
Causes of Abnormality
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Biological Causes
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Possible biological causes:
Genetics
 Disturbances in physical functioning
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Medical conditions (ex. Thyroid problem)
Brain damage
Ingestion of substances
Environmental stimuli (ex. Toxins)
Causes of Abnormality
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Psychological Causes
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Possible psychological causes
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Troubling life experiences
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Interpersonal- between people (ex. Arguments)
Intrapsychic- within thoughts and feelings (ex. Irrational
interpretations)
Causes of Abnormality
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Sociocultural Causes
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Sociocultural circles of influence
Immediate circle- people with whom we interact most
locally
 Extended circle of relationships such as family back home
or friends from high school
 People in our environment with whom we interact
minimally
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Biopsychosocial Perspective
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Diathesis-Stress Model
The proposal that people are born with a
predisposition (or diathesis) that places them at risk
for developing a psychological disorder if exposed
to certain extremely stressful life experiences.
Abnormal Psychology Throughout
History
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Three prominent themes in explaining
psychological disorders recur throughout
history:
The mystical
 The scientific
 The humanitarian
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Prehistoric Times
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Abnormal Behavior as Demonic Possession
Trephining- a surgical intervention in which a hole is
drilled or scraped into the human skull, exposing the
dura matter to treat health problems related to
intracranial diseases
 Exorcism- is the practice of evicting demons or
other spirits from a person or an area which they are
believed to have possessed
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Ancient Greece and Rome
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Emergence of the Scientific Model
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Hippocrates
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Theory of 4 Humors
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Black bile- melancholic
Yellow bile- choleric
Phlegm- phlegmatic
Blood- sanguine
Middle Ages & Renaissance
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Explanations: Superstition, astrology, alchemy
Treatments: magical rituals, exorcism, folk
medicines
Witch hunts
Asylums
Europe & the US in the 1700’s
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Vincenzo Chiarugi- Italian- humanitarian
Philippe Pinel- French- humanitarian
Jean-Baptiste Pussin- French- humanitarian
William Tuke- Moral treatment
Benjamin Rush- founder of Am. psychiatry
Dorothea Dix- State Hospital Movement
1800’s & 1900’s
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Medical Model
Mesmerism, Hypnotism
Psychoanalytic model- psychoanalysis,
psychotherapy
Late
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th
20
Century
Medications
Deinstitutionalization Movement
Managed Health Care
Research Methods
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The Scientific Method
Objectivity
 Observation
 Hypothesis Formation
 Ruling out competing explanations with proper
controls
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Research Methods
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The Experimental Method
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Independent variable (the possible cause) leads to
the dependent variable (the outcome measured)
Research Method
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The Correlational Method
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An association (or co-relation) between two variable
Research Methods
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The Survey Method
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Researchers use the survey method to gather
information from a sample considered representative
of a particular population.
Research Methods
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Case Study Method
Single-Subject Design
Studies of Genetic Influence
Myths of Mental Illness
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Creative people are a little “crazy.”
People with mental disorders are dangerous.
Most older people are senile.
Freud was only concerned with sex.
Criminals are born “bad.”
Asthma is caused by emotional problems.
Suicidal individuals rarely talk about suicide.
People with schizophrenia have multiple personalities.
Impact on the Individual
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Stigma- a label that causes certain people to be
regarded as different, defective, and set apart
from mainstream members of society.
Distress
Impact on the Family
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Affected by loved ones’ distress
Also share a sense of stigma
Impact on the Community & Society
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Homelessness
Health Attention
Communities divided