Abnormality Vs Normality Paper

On this day in 1999of April 20, two teenage gunmen kill 13 people in a shooting spree at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, south of Denver. At approximately 11:19 a.m., Dylan Klebold, 18, and Eric Harris, 17, dressed in trench coats, began shooting students outside the school before moving inside to continue their rampage. By 11:35 a.m., Klebold and Harris had killed 12 fellow students and a teacher and wounded another 23 people. Shortly after noon, the two teens turned their guns on themselves and committed suicide. This event made me feel safe around schools with uniforms because it makes it more unlikely for students to bring weapons. It shows that teens may be all able to get weapons easily making me aware of the people surrounding me.

Barbara Dority author of “The Columbine Tragedy: Countering the Hysteria”, illustrates how society becomes hysterical after a teen commits a mass school shooting. The Columbine shooting occurred April 20, 1999 in Littleton, Colorado. It was caused by two adolescents Eric Harris and Dylan Kledold, collectively killed 13 students and wounded 23 others. After the Columbine shooting, society looked in every direction for who is to blame for such a horrendous act of violence caused by teens. Dority expresses how society tends to panic, and take away the youths’ pleasures such as video games, music, and the very basic rights young people have. While society posit that media or Goth music is the catalyst for teen violence, it is not the media or Goth who are to blame for teen violence.

First, it is unknown what can be considered “normal” or “unusual”. Every person will have some form of variation from one another and their definition of what is “normal” or “abnormal” based on their social upbringing, society and community, and religious beliefs. This being said the claim that something is unusual or abnormal can not be solely defined. “The statistical frequency of an act does not determine its moral status”. (pg. 4)

“Define ‘Normal’” review Today I am reviewing the Define “Normal” book. This is novel was written by Julie Anne Peters who was author in other books like “Do You Spell G-E-E-K?”, “Romance of the Snobs Squad”, and “Revenge of the Snob Squad” as well. This book was about a girl named Antonia that was set up by her principal to do peer counseling with Jasmine Luther, because he thinks that both of the girls have family issues that they can both work together to solve it. Antonia is a “normal” girl that lives with a single mother and two brothers. At the beginning of the novel, her mother is always ill and tends to stay in her bedroom and not going out to society a lot.

Millions of people varying in color, religion, sex, sexual preferences, and socioeconomic status share the earth that we live on. Somehow within all that variation people think that they are able to interpret and label what is normal and abnormal. How many are considered “normal” and why? Is the child born with 6 fingers on one hand instead of 5 any less normal then the 5 fingered child? Why is preferring to sit in the dark and go on long meandering walks enough to have you labeled unfit to raise children as Sylvie was in the movie Housekeeping? Webster’s dictionary defines normal as the ability to conform to a particular standard or desired pattern. People who abide by the laws and social norms are normal, and those who don’t are abnormal.

When using this approach to define abnormality you would first have to consider what is normal behaviour for that particular culture otherwise a person could be incorrectly diagnosed as abnormal. Cultural differences are also a problem for the 'Failure to Function Adequately' definition of abnormality. This classification of abnormality involves a person who conforms to their 7 characteristics of the abnormal as having ill mental health. Examples of these characteristics are vividness, unconventionality and observer discomfort.

Since Columbine, in which two students carried out one of the most deadly school shootings in history. Video games, TV, and movies have been a sought-after target for acts of violence. After the Columbine shooting, the media thrust the idea that Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold’s tendency for violent video games, not to mention screamo music and somewhat goth subculture, were partly to blame for the terrible day in history.

American Rock ’n’ Roll was a huge influence on the idea of Pop as it affected young people and gave them their own distinct interests. Pop figures at the time such as Elvis Presley and the Beatles gripped the youth of the mid-20th century and defined a discernible difference between the young and the old. Post-war depression was replaced by a youthful optimistic spirit, which allowed for expression of self among the youth of American society. The optimistic spirit offered by pop culture icons allowed the youth to recover from a society which condemned them. An extreme example of this condemnation is the Kent state massacre of 1970 where 4 students were killed and 9 were wounded (History.com Staff 2009). Fashion, particularly the mini skirt, was the largest expression of Pop. The mini skirt displayed multiple Pop styles through the change of its shape while also being visually influenced by art styles coming into existence at the time such as Pop art and art deco. Pop was also influencing art/design and architecture/furniture styles. These styles are evidenced through bold designs that included bright colours, patterns, and unusual shapes but overall were exciting and eye-catching. They gave people incentive to keep up with current styles while still maintaining appeal to the young people.

In the study of abnormal psychology, one of the contentions often debated upon is the determination of abnormal behavior in terms of specific demographics, such as age, gender, and race. However, determining abnormal behavior in terms of age (for example) is a problematic endeavor in that the concept of 'abnormal behavior' itself is subject to different social (cultural) interpretations. One of the challenges encountered in determining normal and abnormal behavior in general (which includes age) is social norms. Because social norms vary across societies and cultures, an acceptable behavior in one culture might be considered abnormal in another. Another challenge to determining normal/abnormal behavior is "historical variation" in terms of acceptable and unacceptable behavior. An example would be the hyperactivity of children: before, this behavior is considered normal as children are considered playful and have short attention span as a result. However, over time, psychologists have identified this kind of behavior as not normal for children, and individuals who demonstrate hyperactivity and very short attention span as having attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (Butcher, 2010:146).

Kostinsky, Spencer, Edward O. Bixler, and Paul A. Kettl. "Threats of School Violence in Pennsylvania After Media Coverage of the Columbine High School Massacre: Examining the Role of Imitation." Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, vol. 155, no. 9, 2001, pp. 994-1001, Agricultural & Environmental Science Database; Medical Database; ProQuest Central,

In all aspects of the lives we live, normal can not ever be defined as a single idea. If normal is such a thing at all, it is a subjective opinion and can only be defined on an individual level. Everything we interpret is relative to our upbringing and our environment. Not one person had the same upbringing or lived in the same environment as another person for even siblings who have lived together their whole lives have different nurturing experiences. The differentiation between normal and abnormal is a topic of much debate. The meaning of normality varies in many ways such as by person, time, place, situation, culture and set of values. Normality is usually seen as good and desirable by society and what society thinks while abnormality may be seen as bad or undesirable (Boundless).

In a culture encompassed by continuously evolving and diversifying values and beliefs, one may never become stagnant. John Schwartz published a memoir, Oddly Normal: one family’s struggle to help their teenage son come to terms with his sexuality, embodying the inherent emerging personification of a persistently developing nation, through the progressive mindset of the United States (Schwartz, 2012). With revisionist, scientific studies and emerging insight into the LGBTQ population, from the most distinguished, influential individual in the country to the most seemingly trivial native resident, innovation is inevitable.

Abnormal behavior relates to the influence of psychological factors, biological factors as well as the social factors referring to inadequate relationships. In the face of diverse definition, abnormal behavior refers to the deviating from norm, which norm is the typical behavior or characteristic of the population. As such, Jim behavior is abnormal because it violates moral and conventional mores of the society (Violates societal standards), as such causing social discomfort to others. For instance, Jim fails to recognize the social cues in conversation thereby annoying other interlocutors. Jim is this case is behaving in a manner counterproductive to his own well being by

c) The appropriation of scientific knowledge which is produced in the different sciences and included in the academic programs (school education) is essential for the construction of middle class societies, which, in my perspective, would be the most egalitarian societies that the human being could construct; d) the interpretation of cultures is fundamental and requires the systematic, continuous attempt to put oneself in another’s place;; e) it is important that, within a given culture, mental structuring and behavioral patterns neither force nor obstruct the attempt to build dialogues; f) it is essential to deconstruct the idea of common sense about what "abnormality" means. From a semantic point of view, "abnormality" stands for what differs from the norm. However, the connotation is terrible and "abnormality" is understood as what hurts the norm and not as what differs from the norm, and then the need to "banish" this abnormality from society arises as an urgency, often unconsciously; g)

For many years scientists, including doctors, psychologists, and psychiatrists, have been interested in trying to understand human behaviour, in particular behaviour that is described as being ‘abnormal’. It is difficult to define ‘abnormal’ in terms of behaviour because there are many differing descriptions which have radically changed over the years. ‘Abnormal’ behaviour is widely categorised as being persistent and in a serious degree contrary to the continued wellbeing of the individual and/or the surrounding community. Cultural beliefs and expectations determine which behaviour patterns are deemed as being ‘abnormal’.