Abnormal Behavior
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Submitted by mbessaod on 06/30/2008 05:21 PM
- Category: Medical
- Words: 927
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Abnormal Behavior
Throughout history people have been known to do extraordinary things for what they believe in. One such example is that of the kamikaze bombing of the USS Cole, in which people were willing to give their lives to kill others merely for publicity of their cause. When hearing about this horrific story words such as "weird, nuts, crazy, insane, and just plain abnormal" are used to describe the actions taken by those suicide bombers. But what exactly is the "clean-cut" definition of abnormal? I like brussel sprouts while the majority of the population despises them. Does this put me under the same category as kamikaze pilots? The fact is there isn't one definition of abnormal, for the subject is simply to complex to put into a cookie cutter explanation, but rather five theories on what the word symbolizes.
The first of these theories is titled "Abnormality as deviation from the average". This is the approach, which views abnormality as something which is not in line with the "average" behavior of human beings. If an action, idea, or subject is rare and infrequent in the society and culture at a certain point and time, when applied to this definition, it is abnormal. Therefore the kamikaze mission to destroy the USS Cole would be considered abnormal based on the fact that such actions are rarely ever seen. People, on "average" would never sacrifice themselves in such a planned and overt manner subsequently making such an action abnormal. Although this scenario sounds perfectly acceptable, this theory has its faults. Let's say that we lived in a society, which accepted kamikaze missions as a part of every day life. Because the missions were then a frequent occurrence and the average human being was expected to end their life in such a way could we as a society then condone such behavior? Not everyone is the same, therefore we cannot base abnormality upon the average. If we did there would have to be another controversy over what the word "average" meant and...
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