Questia, your online research library and paper writing resource, contains thousands of scholarly articles and books about Abnormal Psychology.
Abnormal psychology focuses on the study of human behavior that deviates from societal norms and could potentially affect growth in our psychological health based on the “four Ds”:
- Deviance
- Dysfunctional
- Distress
- Dangerous
These “four Ds” are the defining types of measurement that most psychologists follow in determining normal to abnormal conduct for most, however, not always accurate. Extremities of any one of these “four Ds” are more commonly termed as 'mental disorders' ranging from addiction, personality disorders, suicide and more. Constructed from psychoanalytic, psychiatric and clinical research, abnormal psychology is the general scientific and systematic process in which we can understand and diagnose abnormal conduct.
Source: www.questia.com
You might also like:
Normality: Something that is the majority; Being within certain limits that define the range of normal functioning; Being able to hold down a job, and is not a threat to others or themselves.
Abnormality: Not being in the norm; Not being able to hold down a job, and/or is a threat to themselves and others.