Abnormal Behavior in Historical Context

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Abnormal Behavior in Historical Context

• Abnormal Psychology
• Chapter 1

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What is Psychopathology?

• A field concerned with the nature and development
  of abnormal behavior, thoughts, and feelings

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Psychological Disorders

• A psychological dysfunction within an individual
  associated with distress and impairment in
  functioning and a response that is not typical or
  culturally expected

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(Proposed) Components of Abnormal Behavior

• Statistical infrequency
• Violation of norms
• Personal distress

• Psychological dysfunction
• Unexpectedness
• Atypical/not culturally expected

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Statistical Infrequency

• One aspect of abnormal behavior- it is infrequent
• The majority of individuals fall in the middle,
  with few falling at either extreme
• Limitations to this approach?

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Statistical Infrequency
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Violation of Norms

• Behavior that violates social rules- Deviance
• Examples of deviance/rule violations?
• Limitations to this approach?

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Personal Distress

• Personal suffering- the individual is tormented
  by their symptoms
• Examples of distress in the context of a
  psychological disorder?
• Limitations to this approach?

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Psychological Dysfunction

• An impairment affecting some aspect of the
  individuals life
• cognitive functioning, behavioral functioning,
  emotional functioning, work, personal
  relationships
• Limitations to this approach? Dysfunction exists
  on a continuum, with few clear boundaries

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Unexpectedness

• An unexpected response to an environmental
  stressor
• Is the response out of proportion to the
  situation?
• Limitations to this approach? How do we
  construct what is an expected vs. an unexpected
  response?

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Atypical and Not Culturally Expected

• Deviates from the average
• Behavior that is deviant and unexpected in the
  context of a particular culture
• Limitations to this approach?

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Historical PerspectivesFocus on the Supernatural

• Supernatural explanations- good vs. evil
  displeasure of the gods, possession by the devil
• Demonology- early Egyptians, Greeks, Chinese the
  devil takes control of the mind
• Exorcism and drilling into the skull

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Focus on the Supernatural

• 14th Century- belief in demons and witches this
  view was endorsed by the Catholic Church
• 15th Century- evil was blamed for abnormal
  behavior- Salem witch trials

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Focus on the Supernatural

• Confinement, beating, and torture of those
  exhibiting abnormal behavior
• Cold water dunking hanging people over snake
  pits, etc.

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Historical PerspectivesAsylums

• Began in the 15th/16th Century confinement of
  the mentally ill
• Deplorable conditions cruel medical treatments
• London- St. Mary of Bethlehem a tourist
  attraction

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Historical PerspectivesThe Moral Turn

• Philippe Pinel (1745-1826)- struck the chains
  from the insane freeing patients from dungeons
• Differential treatment based on social class
• Patients improved dramatically with humane
  treatment

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Historical Perspectives The Moral Turn

• William Tuke (1732-1822) created an institution
  that was a retreat in the countryside
• Moral Treatment Movement attendants developed
  supportive relationships with patients

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Historical Perspectives The Moral Turn

• Dorothea Dix (1802-1877) a school teacher who
  crusaded for institutional reform and humane care
• Lead to the construction of large state
  hospitals- discrimination toward immigrants
• The Moral paradigm was replaced by notions of
  brain pathology- biological perspectives

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Historical Perspectives Somatogenesis

• Somatogenesis- belief that there is something
  wrong with the soma (physical body) which causes
  abnormal behavior
• Hippocrates (460-377B.C.)- recognizing abnormal
  behavior as rooted in illness

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Historical Perspectives Somatogenesis

• Hippocrates hypothesized that mental illness
  resulted from an imbalance in bodily fluids-
  humors
• Parallel to modern day chemical imbalances
• Treatment rest, sleep, changing the environment

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Historical Perspectives Somatogenesis

• Resurgence of the biological perspective in the
  19th Century
• Research on syphilis an STD which causes
  delusions
• Renewed interest in biological perspectives- lead
  to brain surgery and ECT

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Historical Perspective

• Consequences of the biological tradition
• Emil Kraeplin (1856-1926)
• Modern psychiatry focus on diagnosis and
  classification based on behavioral symptoms

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Historical PerspectivesCompeting Paradigms

• Schools of Thought 20th Century
• Psychoanalysis
• Behaviorism
• Humanism

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Psychoanalysis

• Sigmund Freud
• Emphasis on the unconscious mind
• Psychoanalysis- to reach catharsis
• Psychosexual stages

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Psychoanalysis

• Structure of the mind largely unconscious
• Id governed by the pleasure principle
• Ego governed by the reality principle
• Superego internalized parent

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Psychoanalysis

• Defense Mechanisms unconscious reactions to
  prevent us from overwhelming anxiety
• Denial, displacement, projection,
  rationalization, reaction formation, repression,
  sublimation

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Behaviorism

• Classical conditioning
• Operant conditioning
• B.F. Skinner John Watson

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Behaviorism

• Behavior Therapy
• Joseph Wolpe- systematic desensitization
• Present day- anxiety reduction strategies

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Humanism

• Reflections on the positive, optimistic side of
  human nature
• Self actualization reaching our highest
  potential
• Carl Rogers- unconditional positive regard

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Toward a Holistic Perspective

• Each tradition has shortcomings
• No one influence occurs in isolation
• Biological, behavioral, cognitive, social, and
  social influences interact in complex ways
• Understanding psychopathology through integrative
  models