Abnormality in Psychology



Lesson Plan to Introduce Abnormality

Aim: General introduction to abnormality, and sensitivity to other explanations. They thus acquire the foundation to move on to greater depth of study.
Objectives: All students can distinguish between more focussed issues of mental health and cultural difference, and produce systematic bases of examining abnormality issues that involve statistics, cultural difference, inadequate functioning and not being at an ideal mental health (and the difficulty of measuring this).
Assessment: by participation and notes checked.



A task for 10 minutes in pairs: examining from the displayed picture all the ways this man could be abnormal and why he might not be, without further information on abnormality
Then a 10 minutes plenary writing down insights for abnormality and then why he might not be.
Checking against a provided list for 5 minutes.
Then looking systematically at approaches to abnormality: statistical, against social with cultural norms, not functioning and not up to ideal mental health. This would extend to some 20 minutes given expected note taking, with direction to textbook, webpages etc. The important point is advantages and disadvantages to each.
Then, with a point about cultuiral relativity and the need for reliable data, and where this topic should go, a 10 minutes exercise back at the picture looking for culture and self-harm, this without final plenary (because the point is in the exercise itself)

 Start the exercise Looking at the picture

 

Adrian Worsfold