According to psychologist Jonathan Dunder (2009), abnormal psychology is "the study of people who suffer from psychological disorders" (p. 1). There are four main aspects of abnormal behavior. Abnormal behavior is:
. Maladaptive and/or disturbing to the individual
There are many theories or models of abnormal psychology, fro, psychoanalytic (Freudian) views that such behaviors are the result of "unconscious conflicts" to Christian models that maintain "the way to become more normal is to become more like Jesus Christ, the only normal person who ever lived his entire life free of sin" (Dunder, 2009, p. 1; Carlock, 2008, p. 2). In this sense, normality is learned through the study of Jesus Christ not through the study of abnormal behavior by other abnormal individuals (psychologists who also sin).
We all have some abnormalities, so the determination of what is abnormal is more often than not one of degrees and not whether one is normal. Many theories exist to explain the causes of abnormal psychology, from sociocultural psychologists who view societal dysfunction as the cause to humanistic psychologies who claim abnormal behavior stems from an individual's feelings, self-esteem and self-concept (Dunder, 2009, p. 1). However, many theorists believe that there is no one cause of abnormal behavior and that many factors contribute to its development, including genetics or, from a Christian perspective, a lack of faith in Jesus Christ.
My own worldview of abnormal behavior is modeled on the Christian interpretation of normality as lack of sin and abnormality as sin. In Genesis 1:27, 31, the Bible explains how "being without sin is man's 'normal' state," and that man lost his "normality" when he sinned (Carlock, 2008, p. 2). Because of this, all human beings are abnorm
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