Lucien A. Buck’s research while affiliated with Dowling College and other places

Normality, as conceptualized within the field of psychology, represents an inappropriate model for the standardization of diagnostic systems. Normality continues to be confused with health. All human beings represent a composite of strengths and weaknesses. As a result, it should not be anticipated that normal people will be more effective than individuals diagnosed as abnormal in regard to all human characteristics. Creativity is examined as an example of the confusion resulting from ignoring the strengths of abnormal people and the limitations of normal adjustment.

Discusses the art of 2 mentally retarded men to demonstrate the imaginative expression that occurs in a receptive environment such as a talented handicapped artist's workshop. These 2 Ss represent different levels of retardation (mild vs moderate) and varying degrees of artistic talent. Both exhibited the interpersonal growth that can accompany creative expansion. As a result, the Ss experienced an increased sense of competence that has provided the foundation for an identity as an artist. This creative opening was accompanied by an increased willingness and effectiveness in interpersonal communication. The technical and compositional proficiency displayed by the Ss challenges the traditional expectations of social-emotional delay and creative deficit in mental retardation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Asserts that most forms of psychotherapy are limited by assumptions about abnormality that focus on pathology, while ignoring in patients the potential for growth. The potential of those persons labeled normal cannot be properly evaluated if their limitations are ignored; persons diagnosed as abnormal cannot be understood by relying on a pathology perspective. Examples are presented of the creative capacity of persons who have been labeled as outcasts. Psychotherapists need to place greater emphasis on the limitations of normality and on the strengths within those persons labeled abnormal. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)