| What is social norms? | They are expectations that a society and culture hold about how to behave. They are implict rules of how, and how not, to behave in society. Every society has rules for behaviour based on a set of moral standards |
| What is deviating for social norms ? | Refers to behaviour which is considered undesirable and anti-social by the majoirty of society memebers. Means behaving in ways that are not in line with limplict rules of society. Breaking these rule is regarded as abnormal. |
| What is said about social norms in different cultures? | Cultural beliefs and cultural norms also influence our expectations of behaviour. This demonstrates that deviation from social norms also needs to take cultural beliefs into account. |
| What is cultural relativism? | The idea that one cannot judge behaviour properly unless it is viewed in the cultural context which is originated. |
| What does lack of cultural relativsim lead to? | Can results in the norms of the home culture being used to assess the behaviour of the individuals from another culture - this is an example of ethnocentrism. |
| What can cause social norms to change? | Depending on which situation you are in, your gener, historical period, age and culture. |
| What is a strength of devitation from social norms? | Useful definition to distinguish between desirable and undesirable behaviour.
This feature is absent from the statistial infreqeuncy defintion of abnormality. The deviation from social norms takes into acocunt the effect the behaviour on others.
Deviance is defined in terms of transgression of soicla rules, that are ideally established in order to help people live together harmoniously. |
| A weakness of devitation from social norms? | Social norms differ between cultures and what is considered normal in one culture may be abnormal in another.
Eg: 75 different countries homosexulity is illegal and considered abnormal, even though its not everywhere else
The DSM is largley based on Western social nomrs and can't be applied to all cultures, therefore there is no global stand for defining abnormal behaviour and therefore it is not standardised. |
| A weakness of deviation from social norms? | It changes with time, raises the issue of hindsight bais.
Homosexulity was considered a mental illness until 1973, resulting in institution but now its considered normal.
Means that historically the reliance on the defintion of social deviation could have led to violations of human rights where people were deemed abnormal
To diagnose peopel on these grounds is a form of social control over minoirty groups to exclude those who couldn't conform. |
| A weakness of deviaiton from social norms ? | Someone may break a social norm it might not be deviant behaviour but the persistent recption of such behaviour could be evidence of psychological disturbance.
Like someone can wear a bikini to the beach but in an office it would be abnormal, a possible indication of an underlying mental health issue.
Defintion fails to offer complete explanation since it is context depended and mediated by the degree of devitiation |
