Chapter One
A
ABNORMALITY
From time immemorial, individuals have recognized a
small minority of members of their societies as psychologically
"abnormal." The research of Jane Murphy (1976) further
demonstrates that people in non-Western cultures,
such as the Yorubas of Nigeria and the Yupic-speaking Eskimos
of Alaska, readily recognize certain behaviors as abnormal.
Moreover, many of these behaviors, such as talking
to oneself, are similar to those regarded as abnormal in
Western society. Murphy's findings suggest that the concept
of abnormality is not entirely culturally relative.
Nevertheless, these observations leave unanswered a
crucial question: What is abnormality? Surprisingly, a definitive
answer to this question remains elusive. In this entry,
we examine several conceptualizations of abnormality
and their strengths and weaknesses. All of these conceptualizations
strive to provide a definition of abnormality that
encompasses both physical and mental disorders, although
most place primary emphasis on the latter.
The first and most radical conception examined here is
that abnormality is entirely a function of societal values.
According to this subjective values ... read full excerpt from The Concise Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology and Behavioral Science ebook
