Evans, Andrew (2025) Beyond biological and social normativity: Varieties of norm deviation and the justification for intervention. [Preprint]

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Abstract

The most common theoretical approaches to defining mental disorder are naturalism, normativism, and hybridism. Naturalism and normativism are often portrayed as diametrically opposed, with naturalism grounded in objective science and normativism grounded in social convention and values. Hybridism is seen as a way of combining the two. However, all three approaches share a common feature in that they conceive of mental disorders as deviations from norms. Naturalism concerns biological norms; normativism concerns social norms; and hybridism, both biological and social norms. This raises the following two questions: (a) Are biological and social norms the only sorts of norms that are relevant to considerations of mental disorder? (b) Should addressing norm deviations continue to be a major focus of mental healthcare? This paper introduces several norms that are relevant to mental disorder beyond the biological and social. I argue that mental disorders often deviate from individual, well-being, and regulatory norms. I also consider approaches which question mental healthcare’s focus on addressing norm deviations in the first place, including the neurodiversity paradigm, social model of disability, and Mad discourse. Utilizing these critical approaches, I contend that whether mental health intervention is justified depends, in part, on the type of norm deviation being intervened upon.

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Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Evans, Andrew aevans23@nd.edu 0009-0008-8566-1911
Keywords:	normativity, norm deviation, mental disorder, naturalism, normativism, well-being
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Medicine > Biomedical Ethics Specific Sciences > Medicine > Health and Disease Specific Sciences > Medicine Specific Sciences > Medicine > Psychiatry
Depositing User:	Dr. Andrew Evans
Date Deposited:	28 Jan 2025 17:57
Last Modified:	28 Jan 2025 17:57
Item ID:	24629
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Medicine > Biomedical Ethics Specific Sciences > Medicine > Health and Disease Specific Sciences > Medicine Specific Sciences > Medicine > Psychiatry
Date:	27 January 2025
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/24629

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