Narration
Robert C Carson of duke University, James N Butcher University of Minnesota and Susan Mineka of North Western University have described in their book “Abnormal Behavior” the causes of abnormal behavior in terms of major disorder i.e. DSM IV or other psychological factors (online-website) of human beings. The interpretation of………can provide the answer. (Robert Cartson, James Butcher and Susan Mineka, 1963)

To analyze the factors of leading to abnormal behavior, three cases will be discussed to highlight the psychological stresses that existed in the background. Susan Smith killed her two sons by strapping them in her car seats and rolled it into the John D. Long Lake. The prosecution, led by 32 years old Tommy Pope, announced it would seek the death penalty for Smith. Prosecutor tried to present Smith as a cold-blooded killer. Was prosecutor justified in demanding so? Should a case of “abnormal behavior” be treated in this fashion? Yet in another case Andrea Yates drowned her five children in a bathtub while her husband Hurst was at work at Johnson Space center. In third case of abnormal behavior, newly converted Muslim John Muhammad killed 13 people in the suburbs of Washington out of some strange reasons.
 

 

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Analysis
The above cases are striking features of psychological depression. The personality disorder is the absence of ritualistic and symbolic representation in the symptomatology, free association together with symbolic representation is not related to above case. In second case Yates had suffered postpartum depression, a condition that affects some mothers typically up to a year after childbirth. In case Yates had experienced postpartum after the fourth child and so she was treated for postpartum depression for two years. Hurst however does not accept the disorder of mental state he says, “I would say she is answering the questions of the homicide investigators and her demeanor, right now, according to the investigators, is that she is talking to them.” The difference in the perception of a doctor and psychiatrist is quite evident. On the other hand, reasons of occurrence of first case are different. Smith wanted to win the affection of a man with whom; she had been having an affair. The other reason coming to lime light was that Smith had suffered from sexual molestation at the hands of her stepfather. The third reason going in her favor was, that her parent separated when she was 6. Committing of suicide by her father added more complication to her personality. The lawyers might recommend capital punishment for Smith but the medical psychologists term it a simple case of depression, which resulted in abnormal behavior, developing into Smith’s character over a long period.

Both the instances reveal appeasement, self-denigration and a pervading sense of inevitability. It is therefore important to bear in mind that doctors and psychologists have at times different functions. Smith therefore enjoys different positions with different experts for her abnormal behavior. She is a criminal in the eyes of lawyers, but she is physically fit in doctor’s opinion. She is an extreme case of depression, deprivation as per psychologists and extremely cruel in the eyes of common people. The third case relating John is different than other two cases. It is a case of simple indoctrination in which John, like so many other youngsters, has accepted foreign influence and demonstrated an abnormal behavior, of exceptional nature. The depiction of abnormal behaviors by all the individuals has one thing common that all of them had undergone abnormal experience in the past due to which they had turned out to be harmful for their friends, for their society and above all for their children. The commission of very act by these individuals, of such extremity does not leave any doubt about the illness of their mental health. Psychologist can come to forefront to cure the individuals but can they do anything to improve the environment and remove other pricks, found so common in the society these days?