Deviation from Social Norms

Deviation from social norms

Deviation from social norms is one of the four definitions of abnormality
Social norms are a set of unwritten rules which people use in order to abide by what is deemed ‘normal’ behaviour, 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 at a cafe
- Wearing a bikini on a beach as opposed to wearing a bikini for a work meeting
If a behaviour goes against social 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
- 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
Some cultures still view some behaviours deemed normal in the UK as abnormal:
- Homosexuality: in some cultures this is a 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

Using deviation from social norms is a useful tool for assessing behaviour, e.g.:
- someone who constantly behaviours in an anti-social manner could be termed socially deviant:
  - their socially deviant behaviour may in fact be symptoms of schizophrenia thus a proper course of treatment can be prescribed for them
Social 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

Some behaviours which appear ‘socially deviant’ may simply be an example of eccentricity which means that this definition of abnormality does not account for individual differences
Deviation from social 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 less likely result in a diagnosis of mental illness