PS280 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Mental Disorder, Intellectual Disability, Behaviorism
Document Summary
First section of the chapter deals with the question of what constitutes. The distinction between normal and abnormal behaviour is often difficult to make. There have been many attempts to define and recognize abnormal behaviour, but none are entirely satisfactory; the concept remains vague and variable. No one has been able to provide a consistent definition that easily accounts for all situations in which the concept is invoked. The concepts of normality and abnormality have changed, and will continue to change with time and across cultures. When we ask how abnormality is defined we are asking first, where society draws the line between acceptable and unacceptable behaviour and second, which unacceptable behaviours are viewed as evidence of disorder rather than simply as undesirable characteristics. There are many people with eccentric or strange behaviours that do not meet the criteria for any diagnosable disorders.
