Psychology

Abnormal psychology is a field of psychology that deals with the study of abnormal behaviors and aims at reducing and elucidation of abnormal behaviors. The definition of what is normal or abnormal is relative since cultures have different understanding of abnormal and normal behaviors. Therefore, what is normal in one community may be abnormal to another. The understanding of abnormal is essential in the study of abnormal psychology. An abnormal behavior is a behavior that is socially unacceptable, upsetting and disturbing and is most often caused by mental illness.

For many centuries, psychologists have tried to explain the concept of abnormal behavior. Psychologists in history have tried to control abnormal behaviors in the society by developing theories to explain the cause and possible solutions to abnormal behaviors. Historically, abnormal behaviors were associated with supernatural powers such as influence by evil spirits or the heavenly bodies such as the stars. The ancient societies believed that the evil spirits were as a result of punishment from their gods. However, the Romans and the Greeks were later able to relate abnormal behaviors with mental illnesses which were caused by an imbalance of the fluids in the brain. During the Dark Ages and the Middle Ages, people in the Roman Empire associated abnormal behaviors with demons, witchcraft and spirits (Hansell  Damour, 2005). People who exhibited abnormal behaviors were believed to be possessed by demons and the only method of treatment was casting out the evil spirits by performing religious rituals. If the rituals did not work, the victim was subjected to physical torture to force the evil spirits out of the individuals body by making it inhabitable. Towards the end of the 15th century, the understanding of the causes and solutions to abnormal behaviors in the societies changed. This was due to the rise of astronomers who suggested that the behaviors of people are not influenced by demons or spirits but by moon and the stars (Fabrega, 1990).

Most of these beliefs are still alive in some societies today especially in Africa and other developing countries where sectarian beliefs attribute abnormal behaviors to supernatural powers. However, in the developed world and majority of the world societies, these beliefs have been substituted by biological as well as psychological theories of behavior. Today, abnormal behaviors are associated with social cultural faults which affect psychological development of individuals and biological disorders. However, this had been suggested many centuries back by Hippocrates who suggested that abnormal behaviors is a disease like any other and can therefore be treated as a disease. Many years later, his ideas were developed in the 18th century into a school of thought which relates abnormal behaviors to biological factors. The development of this school of thought influenced research in the field of biological treatment of abnormal behavior in the 19th and 20th century. This has resulted in the evolution of abnormal physiology into a scientific discipline which has brought about better ways of understanding and treating abnormal behaviors in the society.      

There are several theoretical models that have been developed to explain the concepts of abnormal behaviors. One of these models is the medical or the biological perspective of abnormal behaviors. This theory focus on the medical biological factors that is responsible for abnormal behaviors. The theory also looks at the physiological cause of abnormal behavior and the diagnosis of the disorder based on the symptoms. This perspective holds that the treatment of abnormal disorder is through medication and if necessary hospitalization and not psychological investigations. This approach has been supported by recent research on biochemical disorders which are closely linked to abnormal behaviors. An alternative model, psychodynamic approach, has however been proposed by psychologists. It suggests that psychological disorders and thus abnormal behaviors are as a result of anxiety which is caused by conflicts which are either unconscious or have not been resolved. The theory therefore proposes that identifying and resolving the conflict is a major step towards the treatment of abnormal behaviors.

There are other important abnormal behavior perspectives in the social cultural and the behavioral perspectives. The social cultural perspective holds that all behaviors whether normal or abnormal are learned within the community context which includes the individuals family, society and culture. Behaviors like other cultural variables are learnt through different learning as well as cognitive practices. The society therefore instills abnormal or normal behaviors in its members. The behavioral perspective holds that abnormal behaviors are caused by faultiness and ineffectiveness of the learning conditions. These perspectives maintains that treatment of abnormal behaviors can be through designing of new teaching and adaptive responses to improve the effectiveness of the societys learning conditions. For example, parents who were abused by their parents when they were young are more likely to abuse their children and therefore must be tough normal parenting behaviors (Vitrium Systems Inc, 2006).

In conclusion, abnormal psychology is as old as the history of humanity. The ancient people had their own understanding of abnormal behavior which has evolved into a scientific discipline in the modern world.  However, different theories and perspectives have been developed to explain the cause and possible solutions to abnormal behavior. All of these models developed apply in different scenarios and have been instrumental and the understanding and reduction of abnormal behaviors in the society.