Abnormality has many definitions one is social norms.

Social norms are accepted

ways of behaving within a society. They are the unwritten rules that members of
a society regard as being normal and acceptable, and any deviation from them
can be regarded as abnormal behaviour. Examples include ways of dressing,
such as women wearing feminine clothing and men wearing masculine clothing,
not appearing naked in public, saying 'please' and 'thank you', opening doors for
women and elderly people etc. Social norms may, however, vary between
cultures - clothing is an example of this as some African tribes wear very little
clothing whereas Western cultures keep certain areas of the body covered at all
times.
Rosenhan & Seligman (1989) suggested that psychological abnormality should
be defined as a range of characteristics that suggest a person is failing to
function adequately in their daily life. Essentially this means that they may not
be able to adapt to life healthily, may be experiencing personal distress, may
show irrational or unpredictable behaviour, or onlookers may be uncomfortable
when observing their behaviour. The fewer abnormal features a person displays,
then the more normal they can be considered. The features of behaviour were
put into categories: Personal distress, Maladaptive Behaviours, Unpredictability
and more.
On disadvantage of the deviation from social norms definition is that its too
subjective. Social norms are not real, but are based instead on the opinions of
the elites within society rather than majority opinion. These are the used to
control those perceived as a threat to social order. This is a major drawback of
the definition because how does one tell what is socially acceptable, and since
theres no book or law about it how do you actually tell if someone is being
deviant from social norms. Another disadvantage is that different cultures
behave in different ways in the same situation. Western cultures may experience
a different social display of grief when compared with Indian or African cultures.
As a result of social norms vary within and across a cultures and so it is difficult
to know when they are being broken.
In addition a disadvantage of failure to function adequately is Context. Behaviour
must be considered in context before it can be judged as failure to function
adequately. For example, going on a hunger strike would cause personal distress
and observer discomfort but it is not necessarily psychologically abnormal. This
shows that the situation and circumstance must be evaluated in order to
correctly diagnose someone as being abnormal. Another disadvantage People
with psychological disorders may well be able to function adequately. People with
clinical depression, for example, are usually able to work, look after their
families, behave rationally, and adapt to new situations. Consequently showing
that abnormality is much more complex than simply not being able to function
adequately.