Analysis of Abnormal Psychology

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There are many areas in the field of psychology and many views from those of the study. In the field of psychology what is dtermined as Abnormal psychology and where was it originated. Most behaviorist believe that abnormal psychology has many challenges but some of these challenges may not relate to this particular field of study. What is considered as abnormal behavior and what is classified as normal or abnormal and how has this evolved into a scientific discipline.How does psychosocial, biological, medical and the socio-cultural theoretical models relate to the development of abnormal psychology. The field of abnormal psychology is one that is considered highly examined.

The field of abnormal psychology can defined as the branch of psychology that focuses on unusual patterns of behavior, emotion or thought. These abnormal patterns may or may not be seen as a part of a pathological pattern or mental disorder but those are the patterns that are the fore most concern of abnormal psychologist. The problem for the field is and has always been coming to a consensus as to what constitutes normal vs. abnormal. Normality has often been viewed through the lens to the beliefs, behaviors and attitudes of particular cultures and has had much to do with theories of conformity. If an individual's behavior and cognitions conform to that of the group then they are considered normal and if they happen to be different, they are considered abnormal to the degree that they have departed from the norm. At various times through history those whose beliefs, behaviors and attitudes departed from the accepted norm of any given culture were considered everything from apostates, witches or possessed. In other words, until the advent of modern psychology, the determination of what is normal and abnormal was often a subjective expression of a particular culture.

There is some cultural subjectivity in the determination of normal and abnormal yet the goal for abnormal psychologist is to arrive a workable definitions that are culturally sensitive yet responsive to each individual's right to self-determination - the right to be different or even to a certain extent abnormal. If we consider normality as a statistical proposition we would we look at normal distribution and consider those under the ...