PSY240H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Drapetomania, Anti-Social Behaviour, Mental Disorder
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PSY240H1 Full Course Notes
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Psy240 lecture 1 looking at abnormality. Dsm: diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. Deviance: outside of cultural or societal norms, or statistical norms. Distress: causes emotional or physical pain or some type of distress. Dysfunction: interfere with the person"s ability to function in their daily life. Dangerousness: can cause harm to or scare others and the self. A behavior is judged abnormal if it is socially unacceptable in the cultural context. Dangers of judging abnormality based on cultural norms: Can have a significant impact on what is considered normal vs abnormal and not necessarily in a good way. Just because there is a social norm, doesn"t mean the social norm is valid or correct. At one point in american society, homosexuality was considered as a mental illness, considered sexuality as pathological, however, in today"s views, most people view this as ridiculous, based on social norms. Slaves were considered abnormal if they wanted to run away.
