Give a brief account of the biological model of abnormality and consider its strengths and limitations.
Q. Give a brief account of the biological model of abnormality and consider its strengths and limitations. (18 marks)
This model uses physical illness as a model for psychological disorder, suggesting that like physical illness, mental illness has an underlying bodily cause. It proposes that genetic, organic or chemical disorders cause metal illnesses which give rise to behavioural and psychological problems. Thus, abnormality has physical causes such as brain dysfunction (neurological), biochemical imbalances, infections or genetics and so can only be cured through medical treatments. Therefore it implies that abnormality results from properly functioning physiology, a properly functioning nervous system and no genetic predispositions to inherit mental disorders. It is the dominant model, as medical practitioners naturally favour it; but it has been expanded upon by the diathesis-stress model, which seeks abnormality as an interaction of genetic predisposition and the environment.
The biological model has positive ethical implications in removing the ‘blame’ culture from the mentally ill patient; as abnormal individuals are more likely to be seen as a victim of a disorder in need of care, therefore not responsible for their predicament. However a negative ethical issue is that genetic explanations of mental illness may result in relatives becoming anxious and such explanations also raise questions and concerns about the use of sterilisation to prevent the continuation of such disorders. There are a number of other concerns about the unfavourable ethical consequences of this model of abnormality. For example, there is the assumption resulting from the model that the mentally ill aren’t responsible for their actions which may lead to a loss of rights, such as the right to consent to treatment or institutionalisation. The assumption that there is always a biological underlying cause for mental disorder may be incorrect and therefore lead to the wrong diagnosis or treatment being given. Heather (1976) suggests that the basis of defining abnormality is often governed by social and moral considerations rather than biological – thus the inclusion of psychosexual disorders such as paedophilia. Lastly, the assumption that mentally ill people are distinctly different from mentally well people can lead to labelling and prejudice against those defined as abnormal under the biological model.
