Historical Perspectives and current trend on Abnormal Behaviour

Abnormal psychology focuses on the patterns of emotion, thought, and behaviour that can be
signs of a mental health condition. Rather than the distinction between normal and abnormal,
psychologists in this field focus on the level of distress that behaviours, thoughts, or emotions
might cause. If behaviour is creating problems in a person's life or is disruptive to other
people, then this would be an "abnormal" behaviour. In such cases, the behaviour may
require some type of mental health intervention.
HISTORICAL VIEWS:
Demonology, Gods, and Magic:
References to abnormal behaviour in early writings show that the Ancient Chinese, Ancient
Egyptians, Ancient Hebrews, and Ancient Greeks often attributed such behaviour to a demon,
Spirits or God who had taken possession of a person. The decision as to whether the
“possession” involved good spirits or evil spirits usually depended on an individual’s
symptoms.
The primary type of treatment for demonic possession was Trephining and exorcism, which
included various techniques for casting an evil spirit out of an afflicted person.
Exorcism is one of the ancient methods for release evil spirits from patient’s body. Exorcism
was originally the task of healers or persons regarded as having healing powers. In this
historical period, human skull has been found from as long as ago as the stone age with areas
removed by a method of surgery that involved making circular holes in the skull with stone
tools, that method was “Trephining” was a performed on those who had mental illness to
literally cut the evil spirits out of the victim’s body.
Therefore, in this super natural tradition also called as the demonological method, abnormal
behaviour is attributed to the agent outside human bodies and According to this model
abnormal behaviours are caused by demons, spirits or the influence of planets.
Hippocrates’ Early Medical Concepts:
Hippocrates denied that gods and demons intervened in the development of illnesses and
insisted that mental disorders had natural causes and required treatments like other diseases.
He believed that the brain was the central organ of intellectual activity and that mental
disorders were due to brain pathology. He also emphasized the importance of heredity and
predisposition and pointed out that injuries to the head could cause sensory and motor
disorders. Hippocrates classified all mental disorder into three general categories-mania,
melancholia, and phrenitis (brain fever) – and gave detailed clinical descriptions of the
specific disorders included in each category.
Later Greek and Roman Thought:
Hippocrates’ work was continued by some of the later Greek and Roman physicians. Pleasant
surroundings were considered of great therapeutic value for mental patients, who were
provided with constant activities, including parties, dances, walks in the temple gardens,
rowing along the Nile, and musical concerts. One of the most influential Greek physicians
was Galen (A.D 130-200), who practiced in Rome. He made a new theory as “the humoral
theory of abnormal behaviour” it was based Hippocrates believes and after that Galan also
believed abnormal behaviours are based on these four humours.
Views of abnormality during the Middle Ages:
During the Middle Ages in Europe (c. 500- 1500), scientific inquiry into abnormal behaviour
was limited, and the treatment of psychologically disturbed individuals was more often
characterized by ritual or superstition than by attempts to understand an individual’s
condition. During the last half of the Middle Ages in Europe, a peculiar trend emerged in
efforts to understand abnormal behaviour. It involved mass madness- the widespread
occurrence of group behaviour disorders that were apparently cases of hysteria. Dancing
Manias (were reported as early as the tenth century. One such episode, occurring in Italy
early in the thirteenth century was known as tarantism. The dancing mania later spread to
Germany and the rest of Europe, where it was known as Saint Vitus’s dance.
Exorcism and Witchcraft: In the Middle Ages in Europe, management of the mentally
disturbed was left largely to the clergy. During the early part of the medieval period, the
mentally disturbed were, for the most part, treated with considerable kindness. “Treatment”
consisted of prayer, holy water, sanctified ointments, the breath or spittle of the priests, the
touching of relics, visits to holy places, and mild forms of exorcism.
TOWARD HUMANITARIAN APPROACHES:
During the latter part of the Middle Ages and the early Renaissance, scientific questioning
Remerged and a movement emphasizing the importance of specifically human interests and
concerns began-a movement (still with us today) that can be loosely referred to as humanism.
The Establishment of Early Asylums and Shrines:
From the sixteenth century on, special institutions called asylums, meant solely for the care of
the mentally ill grew in number. Although the scientific inquiry into understanding abnormal
behaviour was on the increase, most early asylums, often referred to as madhouses, were not
pleasant places or storage places for the insane.
These early asylums were primarily modifications of penal institutions, and the inmates were
treated more like beasts than like human beings
Humanitarian Reform:
The humanitarian treatment of patients received great impetus from the work of Philippe
Pinel (1745-1826) in France and William Tuke’s Work in England.
Nineteenth-Century Views of the Causes and Treatment of Mental Disorders:
In the early part of the nineteenth century, mental hospitals were controlled essentially by lay
persons because of the prominence of moral management in the treatment of “lunatics.”
Medical professionals-or alienists, as psychiatrists were called at this time in reference to
treating the “alienated”, or insane-had a relatively inconsequential role in the care of the
insane and management of the asylums of the day. Effective treatments for mental disorders
were unavailable, however, during the latter part of the century, alienists gained control of the
insane asylums and incorporated the traditional moral management therapy into their other
rudimentary physical-medical procedures.
THE BEGINNING OF THE MODERN ERA:
With the emergence of modern experimental science in the early part of the eighteenth
century, knowledge of anatomy, physiology, neurology, chemistry, and general medicine
increased rapidly. These advances led to the gradual identification of the biological, or
organic, pathology underlying many physical ailments Scientists began to focus on diseased
body organs as the cause of physical ailments. It was only another step for these researchers
to assume that mental disorder was an illness based on the pathology of an organ-in this case,
the brain.
The Beginnings of a Classification System:
Emil Kraepelin (1856-1926) played a dominant role in the early development of the
biological viewpoint. The most important of these contributions was his system of
classification of mental disorders, which became the forerunner of today’s DSM-V.
Establishing the Psychological Basis of Mental Disorder:
Despite the emphasis on biological research, understanding of the psychological factors in
mental disorders was progressing, too, with the first major steps being taken by Sigmund
Freud (1856- 1939), generally acknowledged as the most frequently cited psychological
theorist of the twentieth century. Freud developed a comprehensive theory of
psychopathology that emphasized the inner dynamics of unconscious motives (often referred
to as psychodynamics) that are at the heart of the psychoanalytic perspective. The methods he
used to study and treat patients came to be called psychoanalysis.
The Early Psychological Laboratories In 1879 Wilhelm Wundt established the first
experimental psychology laboratory at the University of Leipzig. Lightner Witmer (1867-
1956), combined research with application and established the first American psychological
clinic at the University of Pennsylvania. Witmer, considered to be the founder of clinical
psychology (McReynolds, 1996, 1997), was influential in encouraging others to become
involved in the new profession.
CURRENT TRENTS:
Psychoanalytic Approach:
This perspective has its roots in the theories of Sigmund Freud. The psychoanalytic approach
suggests that many abnormal behaviours stem from unconscious thoughts, desires, and
memories. While these feelings are outside of awareness, they are still believed to influence
conscious actions. Therapists who take this approach believe that by analysing memories,
behaviours, thoughts, and even dreams, people can uncover and deal with some of the
feelings that have been leading to maladaptive behaviours and distress.
Behavioural Approach:
This approach to abnormal psychology focuses on observable behaviours. In behavioural
therapy, the focus is on reinforcing positive behaviours and not reinforcing maladaptive
behaviours. The behavioural approach targets only the behaviour itself, not the underlying
causes. When dealing with abnormal behaviour, a behavioural therapist might utilize
strategies such as classical conditioning and operant conditioning to help eliminate unwanted
behaviours and teach new behaviours.
Medical Approach:
This approach to abnormal psychology focuses on the biological causes of mental illness,
emphasizing understanding the underlying cause of disorders, which might include genetic
inheritance, related physical illnesses, infections, and chemical imbalances. Medical
treatments are often pharmacological in nature, although medication is often used in
conjunction with some type of psychotherapy.
Cognitive Approach:
The cognitive approach to abnormal psychology focuses on how internal thoughts,
perceptions, and reasoning contribute to psychological disorders. Cognitive treatments
typically focus on helping the individual change their thoughts or reactions. Cognitive
therapy might also be used in conjunction with behavioural methods in a technique known
as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT).
THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES ON MALADAPTIVE BEHAVIOUR:
Biological Approach:
The biological approach to abnormal psychology focuses on the medical issues that underlie
the mental illness. These issues may involve physical illness, damage or lesions to the brain
or chemical imbalances. Biological treatments are often pharmacological; that is, most
biological treatments involve drugs.
Psychodynamic Approach:
The psychodynamic approach views abnormality as a result of conflict between unconscious
urges and conscious desires. Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychodynamic theory, said that
when conflict in early life is not resolved, we repress things and that leads to mental illness.
Behavioral Approach:
The behavioral approach to abnormal psychology is about the observable behaviors of the
patient. Behavioral psychologists believe that we learn behaviors through a complex system
of rewards and punishments. Behavioral treatments focus on changing the behaviors of the
mentally ill, not on addressing the underlying causes of the behaviors.
Cognitive Approach:
Psychologists who follow the cognitive approach explain abnormality in terms of the thought
processes of the patient. Thought processes and perceptions are viewed as a major force on
the mentally ill, and treatment focuses on changing maladaptive thought patterns. Treatments
are oriented toward helping the maladjusted individual develop new thought processes and
new values. Therapy is a process of unlearning maladaptive habits and replacing them with
more useful ones.
Humanistic Approach:
The humanistic approach says that abnormality occurs when people are not able to be their
authentic selves. According to humanistic psychology, people can only be their authentic
selves when their physical and social needs are met first. However, because many people do
not have those needs met, they are not able to pursue their deepest, truest passions.
Social-cultural Approach:
The social‐cultural perspective. From the social‐cultural perspective, abnormal behavior is
learned within a social context ranging from the family, to the community, to the culture.
Cultural variables, acquired through learning and cognitive processes, are believed to be
important in producing abnormal behavior. Anorexia nervosa and bulimia, for example, are
psychological disorders found mostly in Western cultures, which value the thin female body.
Existential Approach:
A system in psychology focused on the belief that the essence of humans is their existence.
Existential psychology is an approach to psychology and psychotherapy that is based on
several premises, including: understanding that a "whole" person is more than the sum of his
or her parts; understanding people by examining their interpersonal relationships,
understanding that people have many levels of self-awareness that can be neither ignored nor
put into an abstract context, understanding that people have free will and are participants
rather than observers in their own lives, and understanding that people's lives have purpose,
values, and meaning. Therapists who practice existential psychology treat their clients by
submerging themselves in the client's world. For the therapist, therapy is a process in which
they, too, are participating. This is a process that seeks meaning within the whole of the
person's existence, including the client's personal history.
Interactional Approach:
An interactional or bio-psychosocial approach. The biological, psychological and social
factors for explaining abnormal behaviour converged in recent years to form the interactional
approach. These play important roles in influencing the expression and outcome of
psychological disorders.