"Molding Minds, Shaping Future": College of Public Safety

QUIRINO STATE UNIVERSITY
DIFFUN CAMPUS
Diffun, 3401 Quirino
COLLEGE OF PUBLIC SAFETY
HUMAN BEHAVIOR AND VICTIMOLOGY

Week 6 - 7
Psychology of Human Adjustment
DISCUSSION:
PSYCHOLOGY OF HUMAN ADJUSTMENT
Most of man’s behavior can be traced to his attempts to satisfy his needs.
All of us have certain fundamental needs that we seek to satisfy. These needs
create tensions in the human body. When we are able to satisfy these needs,
the tensions disappear. Adjustment has been made.
Adjustment – the satisfaction of a need.
THREE ELEMENTS IN THE ADJUSTMENT PROCESS
1. A need which arouses.

2. Purposive behavior, leading toward.
3. A goal which satisfies the needs.
NEEDS, DRIVES AND MOTIVATIONS
Drives are aroused state that results from some biological needs. The
aroused condition motivates the person to remedy the need.
Needs are the triggering factor that drives or moves a person to act. It is a
psychological state of tissue deprivation.
Motivation on the other hand refers to the causes and “why’s” of behavior as
required by a need.
Drive and motivation covers all of psychology, they energize behavior and
give its direction to man’s action. For example, a motivated individual is
engaged in a more active, more vigorous, and more effective that unmotivated
one, thus a hungry person directs him to look for food.
TYPES OF HUMAN NEEDS:
Human needs arise out of a person’s biological or psychological makeup.

They can be biological (biogenic) needs which are the needs of the body,
which exist for the maintenance of health and protection of the body against
physical injuries. These include the need for:
1. Food – hunger: the body needs adequate supply of nutrients to function

efficiently. “An empty stomach sometimes drives a person to steal.”
2. Air – need of oxygen
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3. Water – thirst
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4. Rest – weary bodies needs this.
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and prime catalyst for a progressive and sustainable Quirino appropriate knowledge and technologies to meet the needs of Quirino
Province and Southern Cagayan Valley. Province and Southern Cagayan Valley.
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5. Sex – a powerful motivator but unlike food and water, sex is not vital for
survival but essential to the survival of the species.
6. Avoidance of pain – the need to avoid damage is essential to the survival
of the organism. Pain will activate behavior to reduce discomfort.
7. Stimulus seeking curiosity – most people and animal is motivated to
explore the environment even when the activity satisfies no bodily needs.
They can also be psychological (psychogenic or sociogenic) needs. These are

influenced primarily by the kind of society in which the individual is raised.
Psychological motives are those related to the individual happiness and well
being, but not for the survival, unlike the biological motives that focuses on
basic needs --- the primary motives. Examples of these are:
1. love and affection

2. for security
3. for growth
4. recognition from other human beings
ABRAHAM H. MASLOW
Accordingly, there is a hierarchy of needs ascending from the basic

biological needs present at birth to the more complex psychological needs that
become important only after the more basic needs have been satisfied.
According to Maslow’s formulation, the level that commands the

individual’s attention and effort is ordinarily the lowest one on which there is
an unmet need. For example, unless needs for food and safety are reasonably
well-met behavior will be dominated by these needs and higher motives are of
little significant. With their gratification, however, the individual is free to
devote time and effort to meet on the higher levels. In other words, one level
must be at least partially satisfied before those at the level become determines
of action.
MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS

1. Physical needs(basic biological needs)- food and thirst; sleep;
health; baby needs; exercise and rest; sex
2. Safety needs (security) - security/safety; protection; comfort and

peace; no threats to danger; orderly/neat surroundings.
3. Social needs (affiliation) - acceptance; feeling of belongingness;

membership in group; love and affection; group participation.
4. Cognitive Needs – our motivation for learning and exploration.
5. Self-esteem needs (recognition) - recognition/prestige; confidence

and leadership; achievement and ability; competence and success;
strength and intelligence.
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6. Aesthetic Needs – our motivation for beauty and order.
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7. Self-actualization needs (achievement) - Self-fulfillment of

potential; doing things purely for the challenge of accomplishment;
intellectual curiosity/fulfillment; creativity/aesthetic appreciation;
acceptance of reality.
Human needs however, cannot always be satisfied. Obstacles and

difficulties sometimes stand on the way between the individual and his goal.
These obstacles may lie in the individual’s environment or they may be in the
individual himself.
SOME OF THE REASONS WHY SOME PEOPLE FAIL TO REACH THEIR

GOAL ARE:
1. Unrealistic goals – when the person’s level of aspiration is much higher

than his level of achievement, he is bound to fail.
2. Harmful or Anti-social goal
3. Conflicting goals
4. Environmental difficulties, including force majeure.
FRUSTRATION, CONFLICT and ANXIETY
A. FRUSTRATION refers to the unpleasant feelings that results from the

blocking of motive satisfaction. It is a form of stress, which results in
tension. It is the feeling that is experienced when something interferes with
our hopes, wishes, plans and expectations.
Frustration occurs when a person is blocked in the satisfaction of his needs.

A person faced with frustration becomes anxious and restless, and he tries
to seek means of relieving these anxieties. He tries to engage in various
forms of activities that are intended to satisfy his needs and reduce his
tensions.
THE COMMON SOURCES OF FRUSTRATION ARE:
1. Physical Obstacles – are physical barriers or circumstances that

prevent a person from doing his plan or fulfilling his wishes.
2. Social Circumstances – are restrictions or circumstances imposed by
other people and the customs and laws of social living.
3. Personal shortcoming – such as being handicapped by diseases,
deafness, paralysis, etc. which serves as a barrier to the things one
ought to do.
4. Conflicts between motives
Reactions to Frustrations – People differ in the way they react to

frustrations. An individual’s way of reacting to frustrations is sometimes
known as his coping mechanism. Generally, people faced with frustration
react it in one of the two ways:
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1. by fighting the problem in a constructive and direct way by breaking

the obstacles barring him from his goal, or by getting angry and
become aggressive; and/or
2. By running away (flight) from the problem, by sulking, retreating,

becoming indifferent, and by giving up without a fight.
These reactions to frustrations are sometimes called fight-flight

reactions.
FRUSTRATION-TOLERANCE
Individuals also differ in their capacity to tolerate unadjusted states, or

frustration tolerance. Some people are able to withstand prolonged periods of
tension without showing signs of abnormality. Others become neurotic or
psychotic, or convert their frustrations into physical illness, while some act out
their frustrations by committing anti-social acts or becoming alcoholics or drug
addicts.
Most normal persons react to frustration in the following ways:

1. direct approach
2. detour
3. substitution
4. withdrawal or retreat
5. developing feelings of inferiority
6. aggression
7. use of defense mechanism
COPING MECHANISM VS. DEFENSE MECHANISM
COPING MECHANISM
Are the sum total of ways in which people deal with minor to major
stress and trauma. Some of these processes are unconscious ones, others are
learned behavior, ans still others are skills that individuals consciously master
in order to reduce stress, or other intense emotions like depression. Not all
ways of coping are equally beneficial, and some can actually be very
detrimental.
DEFENSE MECHANISM
Defense mechanisms are the unconscious techniques used to prevent a

person’s self-image from being damage. When stress becomes quite strong, an
individual strives to protect his self-esteem, avoiding defeat. We all use ego
defense mechanism to protect us from anxiety and maintain our feeling of
personal worth. We consider them as normal adjustive reactions when they are
used to excess and threaten self-integrity.
Further, defense mechanisms are unconscious psychological processes

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that act as safety valves to provide relief from emotional conflict and anxiety.
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They are forms of self-deception, which the person may not be aware of, and
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are resorted to whenever psychological equilibrium is threatened by severe

emotional injury arising from frustration.
COMMON DEFENSE/COPING MECHANISMS:
1. Denial of reality – protection of one self from unpleasant reality by

refusal to perceive or face it. Simply by avoiding something that is
unpleasant. Or in denial, the ego shuts itself off from certain realities.
2. Fantasy – the gratification of frustration desires in imaginary

achievement. Paying attention not to what is going on around him but
rather to what is taking place on his thoughts.
3. Projection – placing blame for difficulties upon others or attributing

one’s own unethical desires to others in an effort to prevent ourselves
being blamed. A mother may deny her hatred for her child is through
projection. That is the mother’s ego may pretend that the child actually
hates her. The mother thus projects her unacceptable emotions onto the
child.
4. Rationalization – the use of excuses as individual to him and to others.

Attempting to prove that one’s behavior is justifiable and thus worthy of
self and social approval. It is also an elaborate justification for what were
obviously illogical or immature actions.
5. Reaction Formation – it occurs when someone tries to prevent his

submission to unacceptable impulses by vigorously taking an opposite
stand. Preventing dangerous desires from being expressed by
exaggerating opposed attitudes and types of behavior and using them as
barriers. A step beyond denial is reaction formation, in which the ego
changes unacceptable love into acceptable hate (or vice versa).
6. Displacement – discharging pent-up emotion on objects less dangerous

than those that initially aroused the emotion.
7. Emotional Insulation – withdrawal into passivity to protect self from

hurt.
8. Isolation – serves to cut off the emotions from a situation which is

normally is full of feeling.
9. Regression – revert from a past behavior or retreating to earlier

development level involving less mature responses and usually a lower
level of aspiration. Example is falling back to childish behavior patterns;
some respond to stress by overeating or by drinking too much.
10. Sublimation – a process by which instinctual drives, consciously

unacceptable, are diverted into personally and socially accepted
channels. Example is gratification of frustrated sexual desires in
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substitutive men sexual activities.

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11. Identification – increasing feeling of worth by identifying self with

person or institution. The person can associate himself with something
or someone to elevate position. Or it is a process whereby an individual
without conscious awareness, satisfies frustrated desires by
psychologically assuming the role or some of the traits of another person.
12. Introjections – incorporating external values and standards into

ego structures so that individual is not at their mercy as external threats.
The acceptance of others’ values even they are contrary to one’s own
assumption.
13. Undoing – Apologizing for wrongs, repentance, doing penance and

undergoing punishment to negate a disapproved act.
14. Sympathism – striving to gain sympathy from others. The person

seeks to be praised by relating faults or problem.
15. Acting-out – reduction of the anxiety aroused by forbidden desires

by permitting their expression. The individual deals with all his impulses
by expressing them.
16. Substitution – (displacement) – a process by which an

unattainable or unacceptable goal, emotion or object is replaced by one
that is more attainable or acceptable.
17. Repression – the ego blocks off threatening thoughts or desires

and thus keep them from sweeping into the spotlight of consciousness.
OTHER DEFENSE/COPING MECHANISMS:
1. Acting Out
2. Denial
3. Displacement
4. Fantasy or Day Dreaming
5. Identification
6. Introjection
7. Projection
8. Reaction Formation
9. Rationalization
10. Regression
11. Repression
12. Sublimation
13. Undoing
14. Aim Inhibition – Sometimes we have desires and goals that we

believe or realize that we are unable to achieve. In aim inhibition, we
lower our sights, reducing our goals to something that we believe is
actually more possible or realistic.
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Example: A person who sexually desires another person but is unable

to fulfill that desire (for example the other person is married)
convinces himself/herself that all he/she really wants is to be friends.
15. Altruism – Avoid your own pains by concentrating on the pains of

others. Maybe you can heal yourself and feel good by healing them and
helping them to feel good.
Example: A self-made millionaire who grew up in poverty sets up a

charitable foundation and gains great pleasure from how it helps
others get out of the poverty trap. She receives social accolade and
public recognition for her good deeds gratefully.
16. Attack – ‘The best form of defense is attack’ is common saying and
is also a common action, and when we feel threatened or attacked (even
psychologically), we will attack back. When a person feels stressed is
some way, he/she may lash out at whoever is in the way, whether the
other person is a real cause or not. He/she may also attack inanimate
objects.
Example: A person is having problems with his/her computer.

He/she angrily bangs the keyboard.
17. Avoidance – In avoidance, we simply find ways of avoiding having

to face uncomfortable situations, things or activities. The discomfort, for
example, may come from unconscious sexual or aggressive impulses.
Examples: I dislike another person at work. I avoid walking past

his/her desk. When people talk about him/her, I say nothing.
My son does not like doing homework. Whenever the subject
of school comes up, he changes the topic. He also avoids looking
directly at me.
18. Compartmentalization – It is a ‘divide and conquer’ process for

separating thoughts that will conflict with one another. This may
happen when there are different beliefs or even when there are conflicting
values.
Example: A person who is very religious and is also a scientist holds

the opposing beliefs in different cognitive compartments, such that
when they are in a church, they can have blind faith, while when they
are in the laboratory, they question everything.
19. Compensation – Where a person has a weakness in one area, they

may compensate by accentuating or building up strengths in another
area. Thus when they are faced with tier weakness, they can say ‘ah, but
I am good at…’, and hence feel reasonably good about the situation.
Examples: A person who failed in Math excelled in English.

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People who are not intellectually gifted may turn their

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attention to social skills.
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20. Conversion – occurs where cognitive tensions manifest themselves

in physical symptoms. The symptom may well be symbolic and dramatic
and it often acts as a communication about the situation. Extreme
symptoms may include paralysis, blindness, deafness, becoming mute or
having a seizure. Lesser symptoms include tiredness, headaches and
twitches.
Example: A person’s arm becomes suddenly paralyzed after it has

been used to threaten to hit someone else.
21. Dissociation – dissociation involves separating a set of thoughts or

activities from the main area of conscious mind, in order to avoid the
conflict that this would cause. This can also appear as taking an
objective, third-person perspective, where you ‘go to the balcony’ and
look down on the situation in order to remove emotion from your
perspective (this is sometimes called ‘dissociation of affect’).
Example: A religious person preaches kindness to all, yet is cruelly

strict to children, without realizing that there is a conflict between the
two.
22. Emotionality – when we become stressed or tension is cause, a

number of negative emotions may start to build, including anger,
frustration, fear, jealous, and so on. When we display these emotions it
can affect others around us, arousing similar or polar feelings. Some
people are either not good at restraining their emotions or are less
concerned about the effect on other and more about the personal
benefits or emotional outbursts. As a result, they regularly and
habitually display extreme emotions.
Example: Teenagers often cannot contain the emotions caused by

physiological and temporal development. As a result, they can be very
emotional and can contribute significantly to family problems.
23. Fight-or-Flight Reaction – When we perceive a significant threat

to us, then our bodies get ready either for a fight to the death or a
desperate flight from certain defeat by a clearly superior adversary. It
also happens when a creative new idea makes us fee uncertain about
things of which we previously were sure. The biochemical changes in our
brain make us aggressive, fighting the new idea, or make us timid,
fleeing from it.
Example: A lion suddenly appeared in front of a person while walking

in the forest. That person may choose to wrestle the lion or run away
to save his life.
24. Help-rejecting Complaining – A person becomes upset or

otherwise elicits supporting actions from other people. When helpful
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suggestions or other comfort is offered, however, he/she reject this and

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return to his/her complaint.
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Example: A person complains to his/her partner about problems at

work. When the partner suggests ways of resolving the problems, the
solutions are rejected out of hand and the person continues to
complain.
25. Idealization – It is the over-estimation of the desirable qualities

and underestimation of the limitations of a desired thing. We also tend
to idealize those things that we have chosen or acquired. The opposite of
Idealization is Demonization, where something that is not desired or
disliked has its weak points exaggerated and its strong points played
down.
Example: A teenager in awe of a rock star idealizes his/her idol,

imagining him/her to have a perfect life, to be kind and thoughtful,
and so on. He/she ignore the star’s grosser habits and rough
background.
26. Intellectualization – This refers to a ‘flight into reason’, where the

person avoids uncomfortable emotions by focusing on facts and logic.
The situation is treated as an interesting problem that engages the
person on a rational basis, whilst the emotional aspects are completely
ignored as being irrelevant. Jargon is often used as a device of
intellectualization. By using complex terminology, the focus becomes on
the words and finer definitions rather than the human effects.
Example: A person who is in heavily debt builds a complex

spreadsheet of how long it would take to repay using different
payments options and interest rates.
27. Passive Aggression – A person who uses passive-aggressive

method to cope with stress does this by ‘attacking’ others through
passive means. Thus the aggressive intent is cloaked by the passive
method. Passive aggression often appears when a person is asked to do
something which he/she wants to avoid for some reason (such as priority
of other work). By appearing to agree but not making any real
commitment, he/she can avoid the action.
Example: A sales person uses a persuasive sales pattern. The

customer agrees that this is just what he/she wants, but when it
comes to signing the order, he/she finds reasons when he/she cannot
but today.
28. Post-traumatic Growth – An individual who has suffered a

traumatic experience somehow finds ways to turn it into something good.
Typically: Interpersonal relationships are improved, with friends and
family valued more and more time being spent in helping others. Self-
perception changes through the increase in resiliency gained from
realizing you can cope with hardship.
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Example: A mother who has lost a child to cancer raises significant

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money for cancer charities.
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29. Provocation or Free-floating – when a person feels stressed,

his/her way to avoid dealing with the real issues is to provoke others into
some kind of reaction. The attention can then be put on the other
person and away from the originator’s stress.
Example: Provocation is also a common cause of fights, both verbal

and physical. A person who needs to affirm his/her power will
provoke a weaker other in order to escalate into a conflict he/she is
confident he/she can win.
30. Self-harming – The person physically deliberately hurts

himself/herself in some way or otherwise puts themselves at high risk of
harm.
Examples: Slapping oneself, punching a hard wall, cutting oneself

with a knife, reckless driving, and taking narcotic drugs.
31. Somatization – Somatization occurs where a psychological

problem turns into physical and subconscious symptoms. This can
range from simple twitching to skin rashes, heart problems and worse.
Examples: A policeman, who has to be very restricted in his

professional behavior, develops hypertension.
A worried actor develops a twitch.
32. Suppression – This is where the person consciously and

deliberately pushes down any thought that leads to feeling of anxiety.
Actions that take the person into anxiety-creating situations may also be
avoided.
Examples: An older man has sexual feelings towards a teenager and

quickly suppresses the thought.
I am about to take a short-cut down an alleyway. There are
some people down there. I decided to take the longer, but more
‘interesting’ route.
33. Substitution – This takes something that leads to discomfort and

replace it with something that does not lead to discomfort.
Example: Rather than making a difficult phone call, I call my

daughter for a chat.
34. Symbolization – Symbolization is a way of handling inner conflicts

by turning them into distinct symbols. Symbols are often physical items,
although there may also be symbolic acts and metaphoric ideas.
Examples: A soldier explains his decision to join the army as

‘defending the flag’.
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A man asks for the woman’s hand, symbolizing the ‘hand in

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marriage’.
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35. Trivializing – When we are faced with disappointment over something

that is important to us, we are faced with the problem of having our
expectations and predictions dashed. We may even have told other
people about it beforehand, making it doubly embarrassing that we have
not gained what we expected. One way that we trivialize is to make
something a joke, laughing it off.
Examples: A girl rejects the advances of a boy. He tells his friends

that she isn’t pretty anyway.
I lose a lot of money due to gambling. I tell myself that I
didn’t need it anyway.
36. Positive Coping – There are a number of approaches that we can take
to cope in a positive way with problems, including:
a. Immediate Problem-solving: seeking to fix the problem that is the
immediate cause of our difficulty.
b. Root-cause solving: Seeking to fix the underlying cause such that
the problem will never recur.
c. Benefit-finding: Looking for the good things amongst the bad.
d. Spiritual growth: Finding ways of turning the problem into a way
to grow ‘spiritually’ or emotionally.
Example: A student fails an exam. He/she view it as an

opportunity to deepen his/her learning and study hard (Changing
Minds, 2002-2013)
B. CONFLICT refers to the simultaneous arousal of two or more incompatible

motives resulting to unpleasant emotions. It is a source of frustration
because it is a threat to normal behavior. It is the result of the presence of
two opposing or incompatible drives or action system.
TYPES OF CONFLICTS
a. PSYCHOLOGICAL CONFLICT – a type of conflict that goes on inside a

person and no one would know (instincts may be at odds with values).
According to Freudian theory, the three components of the human

psyche are always in conflict.
b. SOCIAL CONFLICT
1. interpersonal conflict – two individuals (me against you)

2. inter-group struggles – us against them
3. individual opposing group – me against them, them against me
4. Intra- group conflict – members of group, all against each other on
a task.
c. APPROACH-AVOIDANCE CONFLICT
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1. Double Approach Conflict – a person is motivated to engage in two

desirable activities that cannot be pursued simultaneously. (“I want
this but I also want that situation”)
2. Double Avoidance Conflict – a person faces a situation in which the

avoidance of one is the exposure to the other resulting to an intense
emotion.(“I don’t want this and I don’t want that situation”)
3. Approach-Avoidance Conflict - a person faces two undesirable

features. It’s sometimes called “dilemma”, because some negative and
some positive features must be accepted regardless of which course of
action is chosen. (eg. Cheating will bring guilt and reduce self-esteem,
but also will result to good grades).
4. Multiple Approach-Avoidance Conflict – a situation in which a

choice must be made between two or more alternatives, each of which
has both positive and negative features. It is the most difficult to
resolve because the features of each portion are often difficult to
compare.
C. ANXIETY is an intangible feeling that seems to evade any effort to resolve it.
When it is occasional but intense, it is called “panic”. When it is mild but
continuous, it is called “worry” which is usually accompanied by
physiological symptoms such as sustained muscular tension, increased
blood pressure, insomnia, etc. they are considered as the central feature of
all neurotic patterns. These disorders are characterized by mild
depressions, fear and tensions, and mild stresses.
CLASSIFICATION OF ANXIETY DISORDERS:
1. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders – Obsessions usually centered on

fear that one will submit to an uncontrollable impulse to do
something wrong. Compulsion on the other hand resulted from
repetitive acts (Wicks, 1974). An obsessive-compulsive disorder is
characterized by the following: When an individual is compelled to
thing about something that he do not want to think about or carry
some actions against his will, and the experience of persistent
thoughts that we cannot seem to get out of our minds such as
thoughts about haunting situations.
2. Asthenic Disorders (Neurasthenia) – An anxiety disorder

characterized by chronic mental and physical fatigue and various
aches and pains. Symptoms include spending too much sleep to
avoid fatigue but to no avail because of headaches, indigestion, back
pains, and dizziness when awake.
3. Phobic Disorders – These refer to the persistent fear of some objects

or situation that present no actual danger to the person.
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HUMAN VALUES
Human values are relevant in understanding human behavior. It is the

standard which people uses to cognize, express, and evaluates behavior as
right or wrong, just or unjust, appropriate or inappropriate. Values are also
guides which people use to evaluate their behavior thus it gives direction to
their life. They are the enduring preferences for mode of conduct or state if
existence.
HOW ARE VALUES ACQUIRED?
They are acquired through the influenced by the rewards and punishments
meted out by our parents, teachers and peers. For instance, at home – there is
the teaching of control, cleanliness and good manners; in school - there is
competition and learning in conformity with a bigger group, morality and the
teachings of the church, the exposure to mass media and the government
influences experiences.
Feelings, aspirations, attitudes and belief are also considered values if

they are chosen freely, chosen from alternatives, frizzed and cherished, publicly
affirmed, and acted upon repeatedly.
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CRIME

(Criminal Psychology)
FORMULA OF CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR
In explaining the birth of a criminal act or criminal behavior, we must

thus consider three factors: criminalistic tendencies (T), the total situation (S),
and the person’s mental and emotional resistance to temptation (R). These
factors then can be put into a formula as:
C=T+S where C - Crime/Criminal Behavior (the act)

R T – Criminal Tendency (Desire/Intent)
S – Total Situation (Opportunity)
R – Resistance to temptation (Control)
The formula shows that a person’s criminal tendency and his resistance
to them may either result in criminal act depending upon which of them is
stronger. This means that a crime or criminal behavior exists when the
person’s resistance is insufficient to withstand the pleasure of his desire or
intent and the opportunity (Tradio, 1983).
In understanding these, the environmental factors such as stress and
strains are considered because they contribute in mobilizing a person’s
criminal tendency and the individual’s psychological state, while resistance to
temptation arises from the emotional, intellectual and social upbringing and
are either the manifestation of a strong or weak character.
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NORMAL AND ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR
THE TYPES OF BEHAVIOR:
1. Normal Behavior (adaptive or adjusted behavior) – the standard

behavior, the socially accepted behavior because they follow the standard
norms of society.
2. Abnormal Behavior (maladaptive/maladjusted behavior) – behaviors
that are deviant from social expectations because they go against the
norms or standard behavior of society.
*Normal and abnormal behaviors depend relatively on the culture of people

since a normal behavior to one society may not be accepted or allowed to
other societies or individuals.
 WHAT IS NORMAL BEHAVIOR?
Understanding criminal behavior includes the idea of knowing who is a

normal from an abnormal one. A normal person is characterized by: (Atkinson,
1993).
 efficient perception of reality,
 self-knowledge,
 ability to exercise voluntary control over his behavior,
 self-esteem and acceptance,
 productivity
 ability to form affectionate relationship with others.
A NORMAL PERSON IS CHARACTERIZED BY THE FOLLOWING CRITERIA:
1.
Free expression of personality
2.
Ability to exercise voluntary control over his behavior
3.
Adequate security feeling
4.
Self-esteem and acceptance
5.
Efficient contact/perception of reality
6.
Adaptability to group norms or ability to form affectionate relationship
with others
7. Emotional maturity
8. Adequate self-knowledge
9. Integrated and consistent personality
10. Productivity
 WHO ARE ABNORMAL?
When a person fails to meet the criteria enumerated above, he is deemed
to be an abnormal person.
ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR DEFINED:
1. Deviation from the average (from the statistical norm). To determine

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a given society or culture and label these deviations from the norm as
abnormal.
Many characteristics such as weight, height, and intelligence cover
range of values when measured over a population.
For instance, a person who is extremely intelligent or extremely happy
would be classified as abnormal.
2. Deviation from ideal (from social norms). One that
measures behavior against the standards toward which most
people are striving – the ideal.
A behavior that deviates from the accepted norms of society
is considered abnormal. However, it is primarily dependent
on the existing norm of such society.
3. Abnormality as a sense of subjective discomfort (personal

distress).It focuses on the psychological consequences of the
behavior of the individual. In this approach, behavior is
considered abnormal if it produces a sense of distress,
anxiety, or guilt in an individual – or if it is harmful to
others.
This is abnormality in terms of the individual subjective

feelings of distress rather than the individual behavior. This
includes mental illness, feeling of miserably, depression, and
loss of appetite or interest, suffering from insomnia and
numerous aches and pains.
4. Abnormality as the inability to function effectively

(maladaptive behavior). This views abnormality when people who
are unable to function effectively and adapt the demands of society
are considered abnormal like an unemployed, homeless woman
living on the street might be considered unable to function
effectively.
Further, maladaptive behavior is the effect of the well-being of

individual and or the social group. That some kind of deviant behavior
interferes with the welfare of the individual such as a man who fears
crowd can’t ride on a bus. This means that the person cannot adopt
himself with the situation wherein it is beneficial to him.
LEGAL DEFINITION OF ABNORMALITY
According to the law, the distinction between normal and abnormal

behavior rests on the definition of insanity (one which cannot
understand the difference between right and wrong or the inability to
exert control over his behavior at the time he or she commits a
criminal act), which is a legal, but not a psychological term.
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MODELS OF ABNORMALITY: FROM SUPERSTITION TO SCIENCE

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For much of the past, abnormal behavior was linked to superstition

and witchcraft. People displaying abnormal were accused of being
possessed by the devil or some sort of demonic god (Howells & Osborn,
1984).
VIEWS ON NORMAL AND ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR
The view that normal and abnormal behavior is in different kind simply
does not exist. There are not “normal” people on one hand and
“abnormal” people on the other. Rather, adjustment seems to follow
what is called normal distribution – most people are moderately well
adjusted, with minor maladaptive patterns, a few at one other extreme
enters mental clinics and a few at other extreme lead satisfying and
effective lives (Coleman, 1980).
Another consideration in understanding normal and abnormal behavior

is that, they depend relatively on the existing social practice or culture
of people in the society, since an acceptable behavior to one society
may not be accepted or allowed to other societies or individuals.
CAUSES OF ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR
1. Anxiety (psychological perspective). Stressful situations that if become

extreme, it may result to maladaptive behavior.
2. Faulty Learning (behavior perspective). The failure to learn the

necessary adaptive behavior because of wrongful development. This
usually results to delinquent behavior based on the failure to learn the
necessary social values and norms.
3. Blocked or distorted personal growth (humanistic perspective).

Presumably, human nature tends towards cooperation and construction
activities, however, if we show aggression, cruelty or other maladaptive
behavior, the result may be an unfavorable environment
4. Unsatisfactory interpersonal relationship. Self-concept in early

childhood by over critical parents or by rigid socialization measures
usually cause deviant behaviors among individuals because they are not
contented and even unhappy on the kind of social dealings they are
facing.
5. Pathological social condition. Poverty, social discrimination and

destructive violence always result to deviant behavior.
PRIMARY, PREDISPOSING, PRECIPITATING, REINFORCING CAUSES

OF ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR
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Regardless of one’s theoretical orientation, several terms are in common

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1. The Primary Cause – used to designate the condition without which the
disorder would not have occurred. The main reason of the existence of
the disorder.
2. The Predisposing Cause – a condition that comes before and proves the
way for a possible later occurrence of disorder under certain conditions.
3. The Precipitating Cause – a condition that proves too much for the
individual and triggers the disorder.
4. The Reinforcing Cause – a condition that tends to maintain maladaptive

behavior that is already occurring.
POSSIBLE TREATMENT PROCESS FOR ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR
MODEL DESCRIPTION POSSIBLE APPLICATION

TO
PATIENTS
Medical Model Suggests that physiological Examine the patient for

causes are root of medical problems, such
abnormal behavior. as brain tumor, chemical
imbalance in the brain,
or disease.
Abnormality stems from Seek out information

Psychoanalytic Model childhood conflicts. about the patient’s past,
considering possible
childhood conflicts.
Behavioral Model Abnormal behavior is a Concentrate on rewards

learned response. on punishment for
patient’s behavior, and
identify environmental
stimuli that reinforce her
behavior.
Cognitive Mode Focus on patient’s

Assumes people’s belief perceptions of herself
and thoughts are central to and her environment.
abnormal behavior.
Humanistic Model Consider patient’s

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Emphasizes people’s behavior in terms of the

control and responsibility choices she has freely
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Socio-cultural Model
Assumes behavior in Focus on how societal
shaped by family, society demands contributed to
and culture. patient’s disorder.
When a person is frustrated in his attempts to adjust himself to difficult

situations over a long period of time, he may try to escape from these conflicts
by doing one of several things:
1. He may compromise with reality by developing imaginary ailments,

phobias, obsessions, or compulsions. This is known as neurosis.
2. He may withdraw from the real world into the world of fantasy and make-
believe where his hidden or unexpressed desires can be fulfilled. In this
stage of mind, the person becomes psychotic.
3. Instead of compromising with reality or withdrawing into his well-being,

the person may go to the other extreme and may become very aggressive
and cruel in his behavior towards others. He is then known as an anti-
social personality or a psychopath or sociopath, and when his anti-social
behavior becomes in conflict with the law, he becomes a criminal.
PATTERNS OF ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR
The three classifications or major groups of abnormal/criminal behavior

are:
1. The Neurotic Behaviors

2. The Psychopathic Behaviors
3. The Psychotic Behaviors
A. NEUROTIC BEHAVIORS
1. Anxiety disorders
a. Obsessive-compulsive disorders
b. Asthenic Disorders (Neurasthenia)
c. Phobic Disorders
2. Somatoform Disorders
a. Hypochondriasis
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b. Psychogenic Pain Disorder

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c. Conversion Disorders (Hysteria)
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3. Dissociative Disorders
a. Amnesia
b. Multiple Personality
4. Affective Disorders
a. Milder forms of affective disturbances
b. Neurotic Affective
c. Neurotic Depression
d. Major depressive disorders
B. PSYCHOPATHIC DISORDERS
1. Personality Disorder
2. Criminal Behavior
C. PSYCHOTIC BEHAVIORS
1. Organic Mental Disorders
2. Mental Disorder Involving Brain Tumor
3. Disorder Involving Head Injury
4. Pre-senile and Senile Dementia
5. Mental Retardation/Mental Deficiency/Mental Subnormality
6. Schizophrenia and Paranoia
A. NEUROTIC BEHAVIORS
The group of mild functional personality disorders in which there is no

gross personality disorganization and the individual is not required for
hospitalization.
It involves impaired social, intellectual and/or vocational functioning

without disorganization of personality or loss of contact with reality.
There is distress but neither delusion nor hallucination and the behavior is
not outside socially acceptable norms.
Neurotic behavior is also known as “neurotic disorder”,

“psychoneurosis”, or “neurosis” (neuro-sense and motion & osis-abnormal
condition).
Those suffering from neurosis are said to be ‘neurotic’ or

sometimes called ‘psychoneurotic’. These are persons who are in the
twilight zone between normality and abnormality. They are not insane, but
neither are they normal. They are always tense, restless and anxious.
Frequently, they have obsessions, compulsions, phobias and in some cases,
amnesia. Anxiety is the dominant characteristics.
Further, neurosis embraces a wide range of behaviors that are

considered the core of most maladaptive life style. Basic to this NEUROTIC
LIFE-STYLE are:
1. Neurotic Nucleus – the faulty evaluation of reality and the tendency

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to avoid rather than to cope with stress. It is characterized by anxiety,

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2. Neurotic Paradox – the tendency to maintain the life style despite its
maladaptive nature. It is characterized by unhappiness and
dissatisfactions.
NEUROTIC BEHAVIORS ARE COMPOSED OF THE FOLLOWING

DISORDERS:
1. Anxiety disorders – These are commonly known as “neurotic fear”. When

it is occasional but intense, it is called “panic”. When it is mild but
continuous, it is called “worry”. They are considered as the central feature
of all neurotic patterns. They are characterized by:
a. mild depressions
b. fear and tensions
c. mild stresses
ANXIETY DISORDERS ARE GROUPED AS:
a. Obsessive-compulsive disorders
 When an individual is completed to think about something that

he don’t want to think or carry out some action against his will.
 The experience of persistent thoughts that we cannot seem to get

out of our mind such as thoughts about haunting situations.
 This disorder may lead may lead to committing immoral acts, etc.
b. Asthenic Disorders (Neurasthenia)
An anxiety disorder characterized by chronic mental and physical fatigue

and various aches and pain.
 Symptoms include:
1) Spending too much sleep to avoid fatigue but to no avail, even feels
worsen upon awake.
2) Headaches, indigestion
3) Back pains and dizziness
c. Phobic Disorders – the persistent fear on some objects or situation that

presents no actual danger to the person.
EXAMPLE OF PHOBIAS (FOR COMPLETE LIST, SEE APPENDIX)

Acrophobia - high places
Agoraphobia - open places
Algophobia - pain
Astraphobia -storms, thunder, lightning
Claustrophobia - closed places
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Hematophobia - blood
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Hydrophobia - water
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Mysophobia - contamination/germs
Monophobia - being alone
Nyctophobia - darkness
Ocholophobia - crowds
2. Somatoform Disorders – Complains of bodily symptoms that suggest the
presence of physical problem but no organic basis can be found. The
individual is pre-occupied with his state of health or diseases. Somatoform
disorders are grouped as:
a. Hypochondriasis – the excessive concern about state of health or

physical condition (multiplicity about illness).
A Hypochondriacal person tend to seek medical advises, but

their fears is not lessened by their doctor’s reassurances, and they
maybe disappointed when no physical problem is found.
b. Psychogenic Pain Disorder – characterized by the report of severe

and lasting pain. Either no physical basis is apparent or the reaction
is greatly in excess of what would be expected from the physical
abnormality.
c. Conversion Disorders (Hysteria) – a neurotic pattern in which

symptoms of some physical malfunction or loss of control without any
underlying organic abnormality.
SENSORY SYMPTOMS OF HYSTERIA:

1) Anesthesia – loss of sensitivity
2) Hyperesthesia – excessive sensitivity
3) Hypesthesia – partial loss of sensitivity
4) Analgesia – loss of sensitivity to pain
5) Paresthesia – exceptional sensations
MOTOR SYMPTOMS OF HYSTERIA

1) Paralysis – selective loss of function
2) Astasia-abasia – inability to control leg when standing
3) Aphonia – partial inability to speak
4) Mutism – total inability to speak
VISCERAL SYMPTOMS OF HYSTERIA

1) Choking sensation
2) Coughing spells
3) Difficulty in breathing
4) Cold and clammy extremities
5) Nausea
3. Dissociative Disorders – A response to obvious stress characterized by:
a. Amnesia – partial or total inability to recall or identify past

experiences.
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1) Brain pathology amnesia – total loss of memory and it cannot be

retrieved by simple means. It requires long period of medication.
2) Psychogenic amnesia – failure to recall stored information and

still they are beneath the level of consciousness but “forgotten
material”.
b. Multiple Personality – also called “dual personalities”. The person

manifests two or more symptoms of personality usually dramatically
different.
4. Affective Disorders – The affective disorders are “mood disorders”, in which

extreme or inappropriate levels of mood – extreme elation and extreme
depression. Forms of affective disorders:
a. Milder forms of affective disturbances

 Sadness
 Discouragement
 Sense of hopelessness
 Grief and the grieving process
1) death of loved one

2) financial loss
3) break up of a romantic affair
4) separation/divorce
5) separation from an important friend, job, etc.
6) disappearance of anything very important.
b. Neurotic affective – also called “neurotic mania”, characterized by

overactive, domination, and deficient in self-criticism.
c. Neurotic depression – sadness and dejection (grave sadness). The

individual often fails to return to normal after a reasonable period of
time resulting to high level of anxiety and lowers self-confidence and
loss of initiative.
d. Major depressive disorders – also called “severe affective disorders”

with the following classifications:
1) Sub-acute major depressive disorders – symptoms of this

depressive disorder includes loss of enthusiasm, feeling of
dejection, feeling of failure and unworthiness, fatigue and loss
of appetite.
2) Acute major depressive disorder – symptoms includes mild

hallucinations, feeling of guilt, want to be alone, and
increasingly inactive.
3) Depressive stupor – a severe degree of psychomotor

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retardation, almost unresponsive, refuse to speak, and

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confusions or hallucinations.
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"Molding Minds, Shaping Future": College of Public Safety

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QUIRINO STATE UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF PUBLIC SAFETY

HUMAN BEHAVIOR AND VICTIMOLOGY

Adjustment – the satisfaction of a need.

THREE ELEMENTS IN THE ADJUSTMENT PROCESS

1. A need which arouses.

NEEDS, DRIVES AND MOTIVATIONS

TYPES OF HUMAN NEEDS:

Human needs arise out of a person’s biological or psychological makeup.

1. Food – hunger: the body needs adequate supply of nutrients to function

4. Rest – weary bodies needs this.