The study of maladjusted human being ( the one who has lost his subjective well being, have disturbed social relations, evaluation of reality is altered, can not use his capacities well) shows that he is not a different kind of human being; only that he seeks same goals, and pleasure but in a wrong direction or in an inefficient manner.

Before moving on with what all comes under psychological disorder and its causes, we also need to know about the concept of adjustment and stress, and some of the concept of adjustment and stress, and some popular misconception about abnormal behavior.

The abnormal behavior has different views, approaches, and categories. These are:
Two Basic Views for abnormal behavior -
1. abnormal as deviation from social norms
2. abnormal as maladaptive
Three broader categories for classification
1. Organic brain disorder
2. Disorder of psychological or socio cultural origin
3. Mental Retardation
Three basic approaches
1. Categorical approach
2. Dimensional approach
3. Prototypal approach

The concept of adjustment: Adjustment is, in a way ‘ solution of problems’. And it is important to remember that human beings recruit all his capacities and summons up all his abilities in the attempt to solve these problems as successfully as possible.
What we say and feel and think is determined by our “internal world” as well as by “external world”, and in neurotic (Characteristic of or affected by a mental or personality disturbance not attributable to any known neurological or organic dysfunction) and psychotics (Characteristic of or suffering from any severe mental disorder in which contact with reality is lost or highly distorted) perhaps even more by the former than by later.
And if we hold such a point of view, the hallucinations ( Illusory perception; a common symptom of severe mental disorder), delusions (an erroneous belief that is held in the face of evidence to the contrary), phobias (An anxiety disorder characterized by extreme and irrational fear of simple things or social situations), and worries and uncertainties of maladjustment, all immediately becomes ” Logical” attempts to achieve the same happiness and attain the same goal that other ‘more’ normal’ people already have.

Stress: Ours is an age of tremendous growth of knowledge and rapid social change. But our life is not so comfortable, despite most modern sources of comfort as compared to our fore fathers who were far happier even with their sparse and limited means of income.
Unfortunately, advances in our understanding of human nature and behavior have lagged far behind our advance in physical and biological sciences.
We see people anxious, unhappy, and bewildered; and the stress of modern life is clear in the sales of tranquilizers, alcohol, sleeping pills, and in increased heart attacks, suicide rates and crime rates.
The stress is the response of an individual to demands that he or she perceives as taxing and exceeding his or her personal resources.

Some popular misconceptions about abnormal behavior -
1. The belief that abnormal behavior is bizarre (only a small percentage of patients inhibit the bizarre behavior and not all mental patients)
2. The view that “normal” and “abnormal” behavior differs. (We’ll see that usually only the difference in the degree or frequency of ‘normal behavior’ leads to abnormal behavior.)
3. The view or former/belonging to some prior time as unstable a dangerous. (Mental disorder can be cured, and person does recover from it. Only less than 1% of all patients released from the mental hospitals can be regarded dangerous.)
4. The belief that mental disorder is something to be ashamed of.
5. An exaggerated fear of one’s own susceptibility to mental disorder. (Fears of possible mental disorder are quite common and cause much needless unhappiness. In this connection, it should be perhaps being mentioned that medical students, in reading various physical disorders, are likely to imagine that they have many of the symptoms described, the same reaction is likely among those reading about mental disorders.)

The Cause/ causal factors in psychopathology:
The causation of any particular behavior pattern is tremendously complex. There have been differing viewpoints and models to the explanation of causes for maladaptive behavior.
The three broad factors are -
1. BIOLOGICAL FACTORS for Psychological Disorder
– Genetic factors
– Constitutional liabilities
– Physical deprivation
– Disruptive emotional process
– Brain pathology
– Neurotransmitter and Hormonal imbalance
2. PSYCHOSOCIAL FACTORS
– Maternal deprivation
– Pathogenic family pattern
– Early psychic trauma
– Pathogenic interpersonal relationships
– Severe stress
3. SOCIO CULTURAL FACTORS
– War and violence
– Group prejudice and discrimination
– Economic and employment problems
– Accelerating technological and social change

DSM – IV
The standard abnormal psychology and psychiatry reference book in North America is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association. The current version of the book is known as DSM IV-TR. The diagnostic process uses five dimensions called ‘axes’ to ascertain symptoms and overall functioning of the individual. These axes are as follows
Axis I – Particular clinical syndromes
Axis II – Permanent Problems (Personality Disorders, Mental Retardation)
Axis III – General medical conditions
Axis IV – Psychosocial/environmental problems
Axis V – Global assessment of functioning (often referred to as GAF)

ICD -10
The major international nosologic system for the classification of mental disorders can be found in the most recent version of the International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision (ICD-10). The ICD-10 has been used by World Health Organization (WHO) Member States since 1994. Chapter five covers some 300 “Mental and behavioral disorders.” The ICD-10′s chapter five has been influenced by APA’s DSM-IV and there is a great deal of concordance between the two. WHO maintains free access to the ICD-10 Online. Below are the main categories of disorders:
F00-F09 Organic, including symptomatic, mental disorder
F10-F19 Mental and behavioral disorders due to psychoactive substance use
F20-F29 Schizophrenia, schizotypal and delusional disorder
F30-F39 Mood [affective] disorders
F40-F48 Neurotic, stress-related and somatoform disorder
F50-F59 Behavioral syndromes associated with physiological disturbances and physical factors
F60-F69 Disorders of adult personality and behavior
F70-F79 Mental retardation
F80-F89 Disorders of psychological development
F90-F98 Behavioral and emotional disorder with onset usually occurring in childhood and adolescence
F99 Unspecified mental disorder

PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS stated under DSM Codes -
1) Mental retardation
2) Learning Disorders
3) Motor Skills Disorders
4) Communication Disorders
5) Pervasive Developmental Disorders
6) Attention-Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders
7) Feeding and Eating Disorders of Infancy or Early Childhood
Tic Disorders
9) Elimination Disorders
10) Other Disorders of Infancy, Childhood, or Adolescence
11) Delirium, Dementia, and Amnestic and Other Cognitive Disorders
11.1 Delirium
11.2 Dementia
11.3 Amnestic Disorders
11.4 Other Cognitive Disorders
12) Mental Disorders Due to a General Medical Condition Not Elsewhere Classified
13) Substance-Related Disorders
13.1 Alcohol-Related Disorders
13.2 Amphetamine (Or Amphetamine-Like) Related Disorders
13.3 Caffeine-Related Disorders
13.4 Cannabis-Related Disorders
13.5 Cocaine-Related Disorders
13.6 Hallucinogen-Related Disorders
13.7 Inhalant-Related Disorders
13.8 Nicotine-Related Disorders
13.9 Opioid-Related Disorders
13.10 Phencyclidine (Or Phencyclidine-Like)-Related Disorders
13.11 Sedative-, Hypnotic-, or Anxiolytic-Related Disorders
13.12 Polysubstance-Related Disorder
13.13 Other (or Unknown) Substance-Related Disorder
14) Schizophrenia and Other Psychotic Disorders
15) Mood Disorders
15.1 Depressive Disorders
15.2 Bipolar Disorders
16) Anxiety Disorders
17) Somatoform Disorders
18) Factitious Disorders
19) Dissociative Disorders
20) Sexual and Gender Identity Disorder
20.1 Sexual Dysfunctions
20.2 Paraphilias
20.3 Gender Identity Disorders
21) Eating Disorders
22) Sleep Disorders
22.1 Primary Sleep Disorders
22.2 Parasomnias
22.3 Other Sleep Disorders
23) Impulse-Control Disorders Not Elsewhere Classified
24) Adjustment Disorders
25) Personality Disorders

An example of “How each disorder is further classified” -
Schizophrenia and Other Psychotic Disorders
Schizophrenia
– 295.2 Catatonic Type
– 295.1 Disorganized Type
– 295.3 Paranoid Type
– 295.6 Residual Type
– 295.9 Undifferentiated Type
295.4 Schizophreniform Disorder
295.7 Schizoaffective Disorder
297.1 Delusional Disorder
298.8 Brief Psychotic Disorder
297.3 Shared Psychotic Disorder
Psychotic Disorder Due to… [Indicate the General Medical Condition]
– 293.81 with Delusions
– 293.82 with Hallucinations
298.9 Psychotic disorder NOS

” Abnormal behavior is a crucial social problems, involving not only the maladaptive behavior of individuals and families but also of larger group including entire society, it is also clear that such behavior is often the result of interaction between individual or groups and aversive environment.”

Psychology = Psyche (That which is responsible for one’s thoughts and feelings; the seat of the faculty of reason) + logy (a science or study)

Delphi Oracle >>
“KNOW THY SELF, FOR ONCE WE KNOW OURSELVES, WE MAY LEARN HOW TO CARE FOR OURSELVES, OTHERWISE WE NEVER SHALL”. – Socrates

The quest for understanding mind has a very long history. Perhaps it started with the emergence of human beings on the earth.
Psyche, from Greek psu-khê, meaning warm blooded: life, soul, ghost, conscious self, moth or butterfly. Here we’ll begin with myths and believes.
The Greek name for a butterfly is Psyche, and the same word means the soul.
The so-called psyche or butterfly is generated from caterpillars which grow on green leaves, chiefly leaves of theraphanus, which some call crambe or cabbage. At first it is less than a grain of millet; it then grows into a small grub; and in three days it is a tiny caterpillar. After this it grows on and on, and becomes quiescent and changes its shape, and is now called a chrysalis. The outer shell is hard, and the chrysalis moves if you touch it. It attaches itself by cobweb-like filaments, and is unfurnished with mouth or any other apparent organ. After a little while the outer covering bursts asunder, and out flies the winged creature that we call the psyche or butterfly. (From Aristotle’s History of Animals 551a.1). The human life do resembles it.

Western intellectual history always begins with the ancient Greeks. In fact, philosophies from all over the world eventually came to influence western thought, but only much later. This is so because of the practice of writing began there early enough and in Greece, at least in certain city-states, reading and writing was something “everyone” did.

Many eastern countries were also side by side or even earlier got involved in the understanding of mind and its functions.
This quest was dominant theme in Indian thought which deals with the study of self using reflection and experience as its basis. The systems of Nyaya, Mimansa, Vedanta, Yoga, Samkhaya, Buddhism, Jainism, Charvak and Sufi provide very rich discourse on important psychological themes such as health, well being, values, motivation etc.

The modern discipline of psychology began with
- Philosophical perspectives and approaches: Aristotle’s elementism and Plato’s rationalism.
- Biological roots : Charles Darwin’s Origin of species, Hippocrates, Johannes Muller, Claude Bernard, Marshall Hall, Pierre Flourens, Paul Broca.
- Early schools in psychology: Structuralism, Functionalism, Behaviorism, Gestalt, Psychoanalysis, Cognitive, Existential

STRUCTURALISM grew up around the ideas of Wilhelm Wundt in Germany. In 1879 Wundt establishes psychology laboratory at Leipzig University. This system represents itself in its finished form by the work of Edward B. Tichner. The primary task then was to discover the elementary conscious experiences, its nature, their relationship to one another. (a) It gave psychology a strong scientific impetus (b) provided a through test of classic introspective method (c) also provided a strong orthodoxy against which other forces/ systems organize their resistance.

FUNCTIONALISM started with William James; characteristically concerned with the function of the organism’s behavior and its adaptation to the environment. James grasped the significance of the biological utilitarian approach. In 1875 the first psychology course offered by James. John Dewey gave two main points that (a) behavior should be considered in relationship to its function (b) molar units of analysis should be used in order to prevent elementaristic analysis. J. R. Angel outlined that psychology should consider (a) mental operation (b) fundamental utilities of consciousness (c) psychophysical relation. H.Carr assumed adaptive act as the key concept of psychology.

ASSOCIATIONISM is more a principle than a school of psychology. ‘Principle of contiguity’ says- If two things are experienced closely in time, they are likely to be associated. Thomas Hobbes saw (a) ‘reason’ as dominant factor in man’s behavior (b) lawful succession of ideas responsible for all thought and action. John Locke said that (a) all knowledge comes from experience. (b) He also started a trend which were said to be basis for sensory ideas. Associationism includes names like, Herman Ebbinghaus, E. L. Thorndike, James Mill, etc

GESTALT Psychology was a school of thought that looked at the human mind and behavior as wholes rather than attempting to break them up into smaller parts.(a) It was born with Max Wertheimer, Kohler, and Koffka. (b) They put forth the laws of organization, Isomorphism, psychological field, phi- phenomenon, learning by insight.

BEHAVIORIST Psychology: John B Watson found that he could study animal behavior by observing stimuli and animal’s responses. (a) It focused on the behavior and three other important characteristic- i) conditioned responses ii) learned behavior iii) animal behavior.

PSYCHOANALYTIC Psychology: Sigmund Freud founded the psychodynamic approach to psychology. This school of thought emphasized the role of childhood experience and the unconscious mind. His belief was that mental life is like an iceberg – only a portion is exposed to view. (a) Structure of personality- i) Id, ii) Ego iii) Super ego
(b) Psychosexual stages of development – i) oral ii) anal iii) phallic iv) latency v) genital (c) Anxiety and defense mechanism (d) dream interpretation (e) free association / free talk (f) Transference and counter transference (g) resistance

HUMANISTIC psychology formed as a reaction to psychoanalysis and behaviorism and stressed the importance of person. (a) Humanist helped stimulate interest in psychological needs for love, self esteem, belonging, self expression, and creativity. (b) Carl Rogger came up with concepts of unconditional positive regards. (c) A. Maslow came up with self actualization need. (d) According to humanist everyone has the potential to lead a rich and meaningful life, and to become the best person one can become.

The American Board of Forensic Psychology and the American Psychology-Law Society (1995) define forensic psychology as:
The professional practice by psychologists within the areas of clinical psychology, counseling psychology, neuro psychology, and school psychology, when they are engaged regularly as experts and represent themselves as such, in an activity primarily intended to provide professional psychological expertise to the judicial system. (p. 6)

Forensic psychology is one of the fastest growing areas of psychology as suggested both by an increase in the practice of clinical psychology within our legal system and the increasing interest expressed by undergraduate and graduate students.

Forensic psychology is thus, an interface between psychology and law. Forensic psychology is NOT Forensic Science but is closely related. It provides psychological services for legal community. A forensic psychologist does the work that is both clinical and forensic in nature. They actually delve into psychological perspectives and apply them to criminal justice system. They provide a report for the court.

AREAS covered by a forensic psychologist:
- Eye witness testimony
- How to improve interrogation method
- Child custody evaluation
- Child abuse and evaluation
- Evaluation of adoption readiness
- Mediation of parental conflicts
- Parent – child family counseling
- parenting skill training
- Anger management
- divorce adjustment counseling for adults and kids
- Personal injury evaluation
- assessing the emotional factors in sexual harassment and discrimination
- can help in designing connectional facilities and prisons
- Treatment of mentally ill offenders
- consulting with attorney in analyzing criminal intent
- Evaluation of juvenile accused of crime
- Pre sentencing evaluation of adult or juvenile
- providing counseling for victims of crimes
- Counseling for individuals awaiting trial
- Counseling for those who violate law and order, juvenile delinquents, etc
- dealing Clinical issues such as – Anxiety, Phobia, Anger management, adjustment, desensitization, chronic pain, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, etc

PEOPLE in the field:
- William Stern (1901) gave an experiment on memory, whose result would question eye witness testimony’s reliability.
- Hugo Munster berg, first forensic psychologist
- Alfred Binet and Sigmund Freud, talks of time taken to respond a question as a factor in determining guilt.
- Lewis Terman, IQ test to asses’ personal in police.
In INDIA:
- Dr. Vaya a Clinical Psychologist trained at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore. Currently she is the Deputy Director at the Directorate of Forensic Science (DFS), Gandhinagar.As a result of her work in the forensic field Dr. Vaya has appeared in number of courts as expert witness in polygraph, psychological profiling and BEOS.
- Professor Mukundan is an ex-Professor and Head of the Department of Clinical Psychology, Head of Neuro psychology Laboratory and Clinical Unit, National Institute of Mental Health & Neuro- Sciences, Bangalore, India. He is also a Research Consultant for TIFAC-DFS collaborative project on “Normative data for brain electrical activation profiling”, at the Directorate of Forensic Sciences, Gandhinagar, India and is an Advisor to Directorate of Forensic Sciences, MHA, New Delhi in BEOS profiling and a Consultant to the Directorate of Forensic Sciences, Mumbai, India

BECOMING a forensic psychologist

:
- This will first require you to get a doctorate in psychology, often (but not necessarily) in clinical or counseling psychology. It will probably take you about seven years after the undergraduate degree to get this doctorate, though some people may take a little less time.
- One way the person who is already a psychologist becomes a forensic psychologist is by doing additional informal study after receiving the doctoral degree.

To STUDY it: (India)
- NIMHANS Bangalore (India) has a PG certificate course in forensic psychology. Its one year, fee is rs. 20000. You need to have a psychology background.
- 9 months of course in NIMHANS campus and rest 3 months in directorate of forensic science, Ahmedabad (India).
- National Institute of Criminology and Forensic science, Delhi in affiliation to Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi (2004) have introduced post graduate level teaching in Criminology and Forensic Science.
- Amity, a private University in New Delhi, is also reported to have started teaching in criminology and Forensic science.
- Department of Criminology and Forensic Science, Dr Harising Gour University (formerly University of Saugar)
- Department of Criminology and Forensic Science, Karnataka University
- Dharwad, Institute of Forensic Science and Criminology
- Bundel khand University and the National Institute of criminology and Forensic Science, Delhi
Diploma Courses:
-Faculty of Law, University of Luknow,
- Jaipur Law College,
- University of Rajasthan
- Departments of law in Utkal University,
- Manipur University,
- Aligarh Muslim University,
- Panjab University, Chandigargh, Panjabi University, Patiala,
- University of Jammu,
- Guru Ghasidas University, Bilaspur,
- Jai Narayan Vyas University, Jodhpur (diploma courses in Criminology).

]]> http://psychologicalhelp.info/index.php/forensic-psychology-courses-definition-history-india/feed/ 1