Abnormality

Abnormality as a concept has been used in many cultures for a long time. Many synonyms and antonyms of abnormality exist. Abnormality is used to judge abilities and morphologies of the human body and other biological entities such as animals and nonliving objects. Behaviors of biological entities from humans to nature are judged as abnormal, as are how people relate to each other and to animals and to nature. The use of abnormality as a judgment raises numerous ethical issues. Who decides what is abnormal? What is a variation, what a deviation? What is an ethical reaction toward abnormality? Who decides what is ethical? What about judgment conflicts on what is abnormal on the local and global level? This entry concludes that there are still unresolved issues of how to use and react to the label of abnormality, unresolved ethical, social, cultural, economic, legal, and other issues that apply to existing and emerging discourses and meanings of abnormality.