Features in Defining Abnormality - Essay Example

?DEFINITIONS OF ABNORMALITY By Introduction Individuals in any given society follow a range of given ways of conducting themselves. Though the societies may differ, depending on the cultural differences in existence, there is always a universally acceptable way of undertaking any obligation the given social setting. The causes of abnormality are also a societal issue in which case different societies have different beliefs about abnormality and the causes. Gods, demons, magic, walking uteruses and many other beliefs about nature and the causes of this abnormality are all embedded in the societal beliefs. However, in a broad spectrum outlook, abnormality is characterised by a given set of features according to Rosenhan and Seligman (1989). The abnormality may be a shift from the norms, a deviation from mental health that is normal and general failure of an individual to experience effective functioning. This paper sets to discuss the different facets of abnormality. Features of Abnormality Suffering This is a feature of distress associated with a person exhibiting depression, anxiousness and general unhappiness. This is an experience in which unpleasantness is felt. It may also be associated with perception that one is harmed or going to be harmed. Suffering can either be classified as mental or physical. Suffering may take the intensity of either being mild or severe. The effects of suffering may create a clear situation of further abnormality depending on how other people would view it. It can be viewed as deserved or undeserved, useless or useful and as avoidable or unavoidable. All sentient beings experience suffering. From the context of suffering/distress, different aspects of abnormality can be sectioned; nature, origin, remedies, management and uses of that suffering. During suffering, it is normal to experience the victim culminate into threatening others, fighting, escaping which in essence are ways of coping with the situation. These coping traits that an individual experiences are the ones that constitute an abnormality. The limitation of using stress as a definition of abnormality is that it happen all the people and would therefore cause all human kind to be considered abnormal. Many people are also not aware when they are stressed and this may cause them to overlook the help that would alleviate the situation (Dimitrios & Oreopoulos, 2005, p. 3). Maladaptiveness Maladaptiveness is behaviour. This behaviour is a long term issue and may have a toll on one’s life by preventing them from achieving life goals. Maladaptivity causes inhibition to people causing them inability to effectively adapt to some life situations. It is a behaviour that is thought to reduce someone’s anxiety but the end result is not productive enough. Maladaptivity may be to oneself or to a social group. For instance, if someone cannot control a habit like drinking alcohol to the extent that it causes him to lose his job. He may continue taking it in ability to reduce stress. Such a person may dwell more on thinking about how useless he is to himself and to other people. Malaptivity depends on the circumstances of someone’s life and the circumstances (Renee, Mata, Jaeggi, Buschkuehl, & John, 2010, p. 459). The limitation of defining maladaptivity is that it has not been fully defined and some traits like dissent and abstinence may clearly be seen by some people as maladjustment. Unconventional Behaviour In this case, there is a general deviation from the way normal people behave by these abnormal. This is a situation in which people view their actions only as the most conventional when done. If not done, then the missing link in the actions is considered unconventional. If the action is a societal issue, only the people belonging to that society are considered normal and the ways of other societies are unconventional (Mullen & Nadler, 2008, p. 1243). For instance, the conservative old generation may consider the ways of the young generation as unconventional and therefore abnormal. Moreover, an American may consider an African as unconventional when it comes to some issues like dressing. However, the limitation of this method lies in the intensity and magnitude of the violation of the norm to be considered abnormal. The frequency at which the violation is carried out is also an issue as some are carried out at a higher frequency than others. Loss of Control People are expected to be able to control themselves. Their behaviours are supposed to be consistent with the norms of the society by way of tolerating others. However, when the behaviour becomes intolerable, inappropriate and variable from time to time, there is a high stake of considering these people as abnormal. Loss of control refers to the inability to provide limitation to impulses that cause an action due to being overwhelmed by emotions. Someone may scream, weep or fight. Involuntary immobility may also account to loss of control especially in times of catastrophes. According to John and Griffin (1990), loss of control is a condition that is natural to some people and may result from paranoid thinking, past behaviour, use of drugs and exposing someone to violent environments which makes the person violent as well. It is mostly impossible to know when a person will lose control and react violently. Sometimes the act is usually too fast for a normal human being to evade (John & Griffin, 1990, p. 795). The limitation here is that to some people, short temperament is their genetically acquired characteristic and they therefore be considered abnormal all their life under if loss of control is to be considered as an act of abnormality. Irrationality Irrationality is a situation in which someone behaves in a way that not understandable such that people wonder why this should happen in the first place. Rationality can be described as a situation in which an action or statement has been given without adequate use of reason and it inundates cognitive deficiency. The actions are less rational, illogical and look tentatively unrealistic. Some of the irrational actions may include taking a very stern action on situations that are yet to occur, exaggerated emotions, expectations that are unrealistic and problem intoxication. Irrational paranoia is usually a characteristic of people suffering from schizophrenia. Irrationality may occur due to stress, introduction of a new situation and intoxication. Therefore, irrationality is a situation where the reasons for survival of the person are overwhelmed. The person does anything that would be done in that circumstance and therefore becomes an irrational step (Caplan, 1999, p. 21). Irrationality has the limitation to the tune that each and every person must always be subjected to an uncontrollable situation. There are also situations that may be irrational because of the different levels of individual qualifications. This would mean that all low Intelligence Quotient individuals are insane. Observer Discomfort In this situation, an observer to a given situation sees the situation as irrational and out of sorts with the world. If a woman is for instance walking on an avenue in the city and talking to herself very loudly may cause discomfort to those around her. In this case, the person may be doing something very weird or shameful. The people witnessing feel embarrassed and bad about the same issue. The discomfort caused moves to the extent of making the people witnessing this action look bewildered and bad. However, whether the person doing it is feeling bad or not, the idea is that the other people are feeling bad and a look at their faces would describe an abnormality. In this aspect, it is the observer that is the subject of the whole issue (Rosenhan & Seligman, 1989, p. 46). This aspect is limited by the fact that people look embarrassed and out of place by different things in life. Considering all of them abnormal would render the whole world insane. Violation of Moral In this case, there is a foundation upon which morals are built in any given society. Violation of the moral standards whether by ignorance or by full knowledge is considered abnormal. The most important aspect at this point is that the people that belong to a society are the ones that violate the laws of that society to be seen abnormal. It has been noted however that other people from other cultures violate norms to a very big extent. The limitation to this aspect is based on two issues; social reforms and cultural relativism. In social reforms, those people that fight for a certain set of reformation in the society are considered abnormal (Mullen & Nadler, 2008, p. 1241). Cultural relativism states that our cultures have taught us to believe; that the society is an absolute place. From external information though anthropologists and sociologists, it is clear that the society is never absolute and there are several differences in societies. Conclusion Abnormality comes to mind from very different perspectives. Definition of this word can only be done in part based on the circumstance as highlighted by the seven definitions above (Caplan, 1999). The circumstance may be based on feelings, emotions, customs and ethics. In science however, there is no closeness to the definitions but the situation will make the explanation to be explicit and could always be modified to suit the situation. Therefore, the definition remains an issue of philosophy as the word would totally bring a very different meaning when refereeing to different situations. The paper has brought to light the seven definitions according to Rosenhan and Seligman (1989). This has seen the word abnormal maintain a very high degree of contingency as each situation brought out different meaning. References Caplan, B. (1999). Rational Irrationality and the Microfoundations of Political Failure. Fairfax: George Mason University. Dimitrios, G., & Oreopoulos, M. (2005). IS THERE MEANING IN SUFFERING? Humane Medicine,, 5(2), 1-5. John, B., & Griffin, J. (1990). Loss of Control. In H. K. Walker, & J. W. Hurst, Clinical Methods: The History, Physical, and Laboratory Examinations (3rd ed., p. 603). Atlanta: Butterworth Publishers. Mullen, E., & Nadler, J. (2008). Moral spillovers: The effect of moral violations on deviant behavior. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 44, 1239-1245. Renee, T., Mata, J., Jaeggi, S. M., Buschkuehl, M., & John, J. (2010). Maladaptive Coping, Adaptive Coping, and Depressive Symptoms: Variations across age and Depressive State. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 48, 459–466. Rosenhan, D., & Seligman, M. (1989). 7 'Features of Abnormality. Mishawaka: W W Norton & Co Inc. Read More