Deviation from Social/Cultural Norms (AQA A Level Psychology): Revision Note

Deviation from social/cultural norms

• Deviation from social/cultural norms is one of the four definitions in the field of mental health

• Social/cultural norms are a set of written and unwritten rules that guide how individuals are expected to behave, think, and act in a particular context, e.g.:

  • Queuing for a bus rather than pushing to the front

  • Speaking at a volume deemed acceptable for the environment, i.e., shouting is acceptable at a football match but not in a café

  • Wearing a bikini on a beach as opposed to wearing a bikini for a work meeting

• If a behaviour goes against social/cultural norms, it may be viewed as abnormal

• Some behaviours are deemed to be desirable (e.g., queuing, speaking quietly); some behaviours are deemed to be undesirable (e.g., pushing, shouting)

• Someone who performs undesirable behaviours may be labelled as socially deviant

• Social norms are dependent upon time and culture:

  • Homosexuality was deemed abnormal (and criminal) in the UK until fairly recently (final decriminalisation in the UK was passed in 1982)

  • Women who were outspoken and assertive were tried as witches in England in the 17th century

  • Unmarried mothers were incarcerated in mental hospitals in Ireland until well into the late 20th century

• Certain behaviours that are considered normal in the UK are still considered abnormal by some cultures:

  • Homosexuality: In some cultures, this is taboo and may even result in the death penalty

• Some cultures do not allow women equal rights and may lock women away (or worse) if they protest against this inequality

Evaluation of deviation from social/cultural norms

Strengths

• Using deviation from social/cultural norms is a useful tool for assessing behaviour, e.g.:

  • Someone who constantly behaves in an anti-social manner could be termed socially deviant:

    • Their socially deviant behaviour may be symptoms of schizophrenia; thus, a proper course of treatment can be prescribed for them

• Social/cultural norms are in place to ensure that societies are harmonious and run smoothly:

  • Identifying socially deviant behaviour is one way of protecting members of a society from distressing or harmful acts committed by others

Limitations

• Some behaviours which appear 'socially deviant' may simply be an example of eccentricity, which means that this definition of mental health does not account for individual differences

• Deviation from social/cultural norms is not generalisable across cultures; the same behaviour may be viewed as normal in one culture and abnormal in another culture, e.g.:

  • Hsieh-ping (ghost sickness) is a Chinese/Taiwanese culture-bound syndrome in which the sufferer believes that they are possessed by an ancestral ghost

    • People experiencing hsieh-ping may go into a brief trance-like state, become delirious, experience tremors, hallucinations, crying and laughing

    • In Chinese culture, hsieh-ping has positive connotations, but the syndrome would be viewed as deviating from social norms in Western cultures and likely result in a diagnosis of a mental health disorder