Has psychology abused the use of the word abnormality and why ?

Question

Has the meaning of the word abnormality been abused over its history by psychologists ?

Answer 1

There are general definitions of words and then technical ones. Abnormality, generally speaking, is simply something that deviates from the norm. Thus, high IQ is "abnormality" as is earning over $1,000,000 per year. Psychology and psychologists, however, usually use "abnormality" to refer to "clinical abnormality." This means a mental disorder that can be found in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual that categorizes and gives the criteria for defining them. That is why homosexuality, although "abnormal" in the general sense is NOT abnormal in the clinical sense since it was removed from the DSMV decades ago.

Answer 2

Abused? No, but the definition is a difficult one. As a term in its specialty (jargon) it would be perfectly reasonable to define an abnormal behavior as one that falls outside that exhibited by one or two standard deviations of the mainstream population studied. This is an observational and statistical definition that may not fit ethical, moral, religious or social definitions, but that's quite normal for technical jargon.