We judge people on their normal and abnormal behavior but where is the line between them. Societal normalcy is to behave in an acceptable and in a similar manner as everyone else. Psychological normalcy is simply to be without a mental disorder. However, both of these definitions have extreme variances. This blurs the line of normal and abnormal. So the question is asked, what is “normal,” and to what extent is psychology reliant on culture to define this? What creates these norms, how beneficial is a sense of normalcy, and how has societal and psychological normalcy changed over time?
What determines what is normal and what is abnormal? Ultimately, it is what is familiar. Things like tattoos did not used to be as acceptable as they are now; however, as more people get them, they became familiar. Now they are normal (Cooper). Not all normal things are as neutral as tattoos. There are some normal things that are positive, such as wearing clothes in public. Unfortunately, there are also negative norms. For example, it has become normal for politicians to bee seen as liars and tricksters (Cooper). The definition of social norm is exactly as it sounds.
Social norms are behaviors that are socially normal. What determines social norms is less simple. Social norms, such as the aforementioned example of wearing clothes, have no reason for existing other than the face that it does. In some cases, like this one, there is a religious reason, but because religion is not agreed on, there is no reason for the norm. Some harmful social norms are racism and sexism. As all social norms do, these have changed, however they still exist. Many social norms are taught to us by our parents in the form of manners (“Social Norms”). “Elbows off the table. “Chew with your mouth shut. ” “Hold the door open. ” Children also pick up on some social norms on their own. Little boys learn to be aggressive, while little girls learn that they are expected to be gentle (“Social Norms”). People who fail to follow social norms are usually ostracized (“Social Norms”). If someone chews with their mouth open, they will be avoided, especially during mealtimes. This desire to be accepted has led to the social norms theory. The social norms theory is based on peer influence and misperceptions. It has been used to reduce drug and alcohol use, and their resulting injuries.
It works by correcting young adult’s misperceptions on how much drugs and alcohol their friends were using. When they found out that their friends were not using as much as they thought they were, they became much less likely to overuse or experiment with drugs and alcohol (“Social Norms”). Some parts of normality can vary from person to person. In their adulthood, people tend to create an environment that mirrors their childhood because that is what is familiar. Even if a person’s childhood was abusive that person may find himself creating that environment.
People in harmful situations may not even see anything wrong as long as it is normal and familiar to them. An onlooker who is not in a harmful environment will notice the abnormality of another person’s situation, but many times, if the onlookers observation is not brought to the sufferer’s attention, he will not notice the abnormality (Cooper). The same applies with thoughts and actions. These may point more towards mental illnesses. However, it can be difficult to tell if something is just a quirk or an actual mental problem.
Especially without the opinions and observations of someone close to the sufferer. It can be difficult to tell if someone is very shy, or if he has a social phobia. Without the perceptions of another person, unrooted sadness may not be diagnosed as depression, or mood swings may not be diagnosed as bipolar disorder because these things have become normal to the sufferer. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), published by the American Psychiatric Association, explains the signs and symptoms of several hundred mental health conditions.
Mental health providers use it to diagnose mental disorders (Mayo Clinic). Psychology’s beginnings were rather rough. One of the first theories came from Democritus of Abdera. He believed that all things were made of tiny, indivisible atoms. The smallest and smoothest atoms were in the psyche, which explained the speed of perception and thought (Dwyer). A simple explanation for simple times. Plato took it a bit deeper. He separated the psyche into three parts, the logistikon- the intellect-, the thumos- the emotions-, and the epithumetikon -the desires.
Then, Aristotle raised it to five. He had nutrition, which is basic to life, perception, desire, locomotion, and intellect. He believed that all living things had to have perception, and that if an animal had perception, it also had imagination and desire (Dwyer). After the Greeks had their go at psychology, the Middle Ages infused it with religion. The Catholic Church took over the Middle Ages and with it it’s psychology. Western scholars studied human behavior from a religious viewpoint. Many with mental illness were thought to have stigmata diaboli or “marks of the devil”.
These were physical marks, the appearance of which was highly subjective. Many with these marks were executed. People seen to behave unusually were thought to be possessed by evil spirits or influenced by witchcraft. Sufferers were considered to have sinned in some way, and their treatments were meant to release the evil spirit from the sufferer. Most treatments were held in a sweat house where a smoldering fire smoke demons out of sufferers (Dwyer). Like many things influenced by religion, this was taken to the extreme.
As the Middle Ages came to a close, studies of the mind and brain anatomy were revitalized, and the term psychology was used for the first time in 1506. Rene Descartes believed that the body and the mind are separate structures that strongly influence each other and the soul interacted with the body through the brain and was the seat of wisdom(Dwyer). But as the 17th century came, treatment of mental abnormality became violent again. Madhouses are infamous for their treatment of the insane. People who were seen as being outside normal society were confined together in madhouses.
This included the mentally ill, handicapped, criminals, and vagrants. The people in madhouses were treated similarly to prisoners in a dungeon. They were shackled, chained to walls, or put in straitjackets. Sometimes physicians would attempt to treat the inhabitants of madhouses by purging them with herbal tonics. Eventually, Philippe Pinel views came to light. He was disgusted by the treatment of people in madhouses. He had them unshackled, given pleasant rooms, and allowed to exercise in the grounds. Pinel categorized insanity into melancholia, mania, idiocy, dementia, and partial insanity.
Instead of treatments like purging and bleeding, he had discussions with the patients and set up a program of activities for them. Because of Pinel’s views, eventually attitudes changed toward mental illness, and madhouses were renamed asylums during the early 1800s (Dwyer). As the years passed, many new theories came and went. Bits of most have shaped today’s psychology like the Young-Helmholtz three-color theory, phrenology and functionalism in the 19th century, psychophysiology, psychoanalysis, phenomenology and humanism.
Each of these have had varied acceptance and influence from society as it changed, independent of psychological discovery. Through the centuries of psychological studies, it has become fairly easy to define psychological normality, even with culture’s influence. Psychology used to rely heavily on culture; however, as the centuries passed, culture became more of an influence. Now, it has minimal impact on the science that psychology has become. Through all the studies and advancements of psychology, the brain still has its mysteries. What more will be discovered?
