mini reflection paper and its outline

Meaning of Madness Week 3: Normality

Agenda Defining normal → More in-depth

Terminology & Mental Illness Labels

Mini paper outline & How to find empirical sources

Searching for Normality Philosophy “Normal has no universal meaning and can never be defined with precision…it is very much in the eye of the beholder and is changeable over time, place, and cultures”

Statistics “We are normally distributed on a bell shaped curve on any given trait that is continuously distributed in our population” “Can the bell curve provide…a guide in deciding who is mentally normal and who is not? Conceptually… why not… practically… no”

Searching for Normality (cont’d) Medicine “Modern medical science has never provided a workable definition of ‘health’ or ‘illness’ – in either physical or mental realms” (Frances, 2013, p. 9)

“Health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being” (WHO) High standard?

Psychiatry “The expectation that there would be a simple gene or neurotransmitter…for any mental disorder has turned out to be naïve and illusory” (Frances, 2013, p. 10)

Searching for Normality (cont’d) Sociology/Anthropology Cultural universals & norms vs normal vs normative

“Cultures differ dramatically in their conceptions of normal because they face different survival challenges”

Psychology Freud – “everyone is neurotic and could use more insight” Bell curve Cutoffs (e.g., IQ)

Searching for Normality (cont’d) Education Emotional Disturbance (IDEA, 2004)

Inability to learn, build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships, inappropriate types of behavior or feelings, pervasive mood of unhappiness, tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems

K-12 vs. Higher Ed (IEPs, funding)

Searching for Normality (cont’d) Law Insanity defense

In Pennsylvania, the M'Naghten rule is used:

“…at the time of committing the act, the accused was laboring under such a defect of reason, from disease of the mind, as not to know the nature and quality of the act he was doing or, if he did know it, that he did not know what he was doing was wrong.”

Can we define normality without abnormality? “The definitions of the mental disorder generally require the presence of distress, disability, dysfunction, dyscontrol, and/or disadvantage…how much...of what kind?”

“It is equally dangerous at either extreme - to have either an expanding concept of mental disorder that eliminates normal or to have an expanding concept of normal that eliminates mental disorder”

3 Main Definitions in Psychology 1. Deviation from social norms 2. Failure to function adequately 3. Deviation from the “ideal” mental health

Deviation from Social Norms

Explicit Written Laws

Implicit Following a dress code

Failure to Function

Adequately

Assessed DSM-V Global Assessment of Functioning

Deviation from “Ideal” Mental

Health

Health vs Illness

1. Self-actualisation 2. Positive attitude towards the

self 3. Resistance to stress 4. Personal autonomy 5. Accurate perception of reality 6. Adapting to (& mastery of) the

environment

So which one is right? There is no right or wrong definition of abnormality

Not trying to define “normal” → focus on atypical behavior to receive treatment

A quick note on stigma... “a mark of disgrace associated with a particular circumstance, quality, or person” (dictionary)

Social stigma - disapproval of, or discrimination against, a person based on perceivable social characteristics that serve to distinguish them from other members of a society

Terminology and Mental Illness Labels

● Weird ● Crazy ● Nutty ● Cuckoo ● Maniac ● Psycho

● Mentally ill ● Mental health issues ● Person with… ● Experiencing… ● Suffering from… ● Struggling with… ● Sick

Person First Language

Someone is not defined by their mental health

Group Discussion In groups of 4, discuss the following questions (please write down your names and answers on a sheet of paper and be prepared to share!)

Which disciplines “definition” of normality do you agree with most? Why?

What definition of abnormality do you agree with most? Why?

Why is it harmful to use terms such as psycho/insane/etc. in everyday life? What did you take away/learn from the article on mental illness labels?

What are some societal factors that can influence stigma/perceptions of mental illness?

Mini Reflection

Paper

Outline due Week 5

Final paper due Week 8

Choose from 6 discussion topics (on canvas)

4 page reflection paper

Cite 2 sources (MLA or APA) → relevant research

How do I find sources? Meaning of madness guide → walkthrough

Think about relevant search terms

Should be key terms not full sentences

Ex: depression treatment effectiveness instead of “how effective are treatments for depression”

Time frame: From the past 10 years (Unless for historical relevance)

Evaluating Research

Where to find research →

Library Homepage: https://library.temple.edu/

Resource Guide: https://guides.temple.edu/ madness/

When do I cite a source? Direct Quote from the source When citing a source “a direct quote must be put in quotations” (Smith 2008).

Paraphrasing an idea from the source Quotations are necessary when citing a direct quote from a source so the reader knows it is not your idea (Smith 2008).

More information: https://students.case.edu/academic/resources/writing/more/research/research6.html

How do I cite in the text? MLA In-text citations include the “last name of the author followed by a page number enclosed in parentheses” (Smith and Reed 8). "Here's a direct quote" (Smith et al. 8).

APA In-text citations include the “last name of the author followed by the year the article was published, enclosed in parentheses” (Smith and Reed, 2008). "Here's a direct quote" (Smith et al., 2008).

How do I cite a source? (Research Article) APA Format: Last Name, Initials., Last Name, Initials., & Last Name, Initials. (Year). Title (First word capitalized). Journal Title (Capitalize all words), Volume(Issue), Pages.

Example: Derwing, T. M., Rossiter, M. J., & Munro, M. J. (2002). Teaching native speakers to listen to foreign-accented speech. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 23(4), 245-259.

MLA Format: Last Name, First name.“Title (All Caps).” Journal Title (All Caps), vol. #, no. #,year, pp. #-#) Example: Bagchi, Alaknanda."Conflicting Nationalisms: The Voice of the Subaltern in Mahasweta Devi's Bashai Tudu." Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature, vol. 15, no. 1, 1996, pp. 41-50.

How do I cite a source? (Book) APA Jamison, K. R. (2015). An unquiet mind: A memoir of moods and madness. London: Picador.

MLA Jamison, Kay R. An Unquiet Mind: a Memoir of Moods and Madness. Picador, 2015.

More Information Generators: http://www.citationmachine.net/ http://www.bibme.org/

Sample Works Cited (MLA)/Reference(APA): https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_s tyle_guide/mla_sample_works_cited_page.html http://apaformat.org/apa-reference-page/

More Information: https://www.mendeley.com/guides/apa-citation-guide https://www.mendeley.com/guides/mla-citation-guide

On Deck

Reading Jamison (2009) Part Three, pp. 139–175

Assignments Start to think about which mini paper prompt you’d like to write about. We will spend time in class next Tuesday and Thursday working on the outlines.