Perspectives of Abnormal Behaviour> Statistical Perspective

Normality and abnormality are relative and cannot be divided into strict, separate categories. Both lie on a continuum where people differ in degree, not in kind.

Thus Baron defines mental disorders as “Disturbances of an individual’s behaviour or psychological functioning that are not culturally expected and that lead to psychological distress, behavioural disability and/or impaired overall functioning.”

• Abnormality is explained using how often a behaviour occurs in the population.
• Behaviour that is very rare is called abnormal in the statistical or infrequency model.
• Normal and abnormal behaviour differ only in degree according to this model.

• A bell-shaped curve shows the distribution of normal, abnormal, and superior individuals.
• Most people fall in the middle as normal, while very few lie at the two extremes.
• The distribution is continuous, so there is no clear gap between normal and abnormal.

• The statistical concept shows that normality and abnormality are relative terms.
• Abnormal individuals come from the same distribution as normal ones and mainly differ in degree.
• Every person may show some abnormal tendencies at some point in life.

• Abnormality cannot always be treated as just an extreme form of normal behaviour.
• Statistics do not work well for complex areas like emotion, motivation, and personality.
• The model cannot distinguish between desirable extremes and undesirable extremes.
• Normal people can sometimes experience anxiety, sadness, aggression, delusions, or depression.
• Under difficult conditions, even normal people may behave abnormally.
• What is abnormal in one culture may be acceptable in another.

• Modern experts have developed several perspectives to explain abnormal behaviour.
• These perspectives are used to understand how mental disorders are viewed today.
• They complement each other in explaining how disorders develop and how they can be treated.

• The statistical perspective defines abnormal behaviour as infrequent or rare behaviour in a population.
• According to this view, normal and abnormal differ in degree, not in kind, and are shown on a bell-shaped curve.
• Most people fall in the middle (normal range), while very low or very high extremes are considered abnormal or superior.
• Normality and abnormality are relative concepts, and there is no clear-cut boundary between them.
• Abnormal behaviour refers to actions that are socially inappropriate, culturally unexpected, and cause distress or poor adjustment.