Write a 4-5 page APA style paper in which you provide analysis and insight into the current models of abnormality.
Identify and explain the strengths and weaknesses of one model of abnormality that you, as a student, think best explains abnormal behavior.
Choose a different model that you think offers the poorest model of abnormality. Identify and explain the strengths and weaknesses of that model.
Compare and contrast the two models you chose and analyze the major differences between the two models. This section should be as strong as the other two sections! In this compare and contrast section, you may compare the points that you found to be strengths and weaknesses, however you should also explore other aspects that were not noted previously in the paper.
The strengths and weaknesses of one model of abnormality
Abnormality (or dysfunctional behavior) is a behavioral characteristic assigned to those with conditions that are regarded as a rare or dysfunctional. There are numerous factors that are associated with the etiology of various psychological disorders/abnormal behavior. Biological, psychological, and sociocultural are models of abnormal psychology. The biological model of psychology treats mental illness like physical illnesses, as it addresses physical issues to treat behavioral abnormalities. It has its strengths and weaknesses. It is a very scientific way of looking at problems. The problem is, there is no way to measure that. No one has a subconscious-o-meter to measure tension in the subconscious, but brain activity.
It seems to be the case that capital punishment can be justified on moral grounds as it does more good than harm. In John Stuart Mill’s “Speech in Favor of Capital Punishment,” he argues that capital punishment is the most appropriate “mode in which society can attach to so great a crime the penal consequences which for the security of life it is indispensable to annex to it.” He argues this for many reasons. His first point is that capital punishment is more humane to the criminal than the prison system. At first glance, it appears that the death penalty is cruel and unusual because we, as humans, are scared to inflict death on another human, no matter what crime has been committed. However, Mill argues that while the “short pang of a rapid death” seems merciless, caging a criminal “in a living tomb” for a “long life in the hardest and most monotonous toil…debarred from all pleasant sights and sounds, and cut off from all earthly hope” is far crueler than it seems (Mill). This is seen in examples from Aaron Rodriguez to Mark Salling to Adolf Hitler. All of these people would rather commit suicide and die than be sentenced to life in prison. Thus, it can be argued that prison is “less severe indeed in appearance…but far more cruel in reality” (Mill).
Because of capital punishment’s appearance of severity, it serves as an effective deterrent for crime. Someone who is thinking of committing a horrible crime might not do so if he knows there is a possibility of death if he is caught. Some would argue that capital punishment does not deter crime, but Mill responds to this by asking, “Who is there who knows whom it has deterred?” to make the point that we cannot be certain how many people were or were not deterred from committing a crime because of the threat of the death penalty. Furthermore, he points out that the “influence of a punishment is not to be estimated by its effect on hardened criminals,” but rather the “impression it makes on those who are still innocent” (Mill). While it may seem that crime is not being deterred, the threat of capital punishment does influence people to not commit crimes. Imagine if there was no alarming threat of punishment for murder; certainly, there would be more murders. Capital punishment deters crime, which thus prevents unhappiness.