The psychodynamic theory of offending believes criminality is caused by abnormal development of the psyche. The theory explains criminality happening for 4 different reasons, first being a weak superego as it doesn't punish them for acting on impulses from the id, second being a deviant superego as it has deviant values so doesn't react to certain crimes, third being a strong superego as they commit a crime to be punished to rid the guilt imposed by the superego or they suppress so much anger and frustration that one day they 'explode' releasing it in one go, and forth being maternal deprivation (proposed by Bowlby) as it leads to affectionless psychopathy so they can't form meaningful relationships. A major problem with the psychodynamic theory is that the concepts are difficult to test, and it relies on the unconscious mind which is impossible to prove meaning there is no empirical evidence. The biological approach can also be argued as difficult to test or proved because the CNS, ANS and endocrine system are very complex and interact with each other in a complex way, and because of this they are still not completely understood. The biological research is arguably better than the psychodynamic research because it relies on quantitative and objective data which will be interpreted the same by
The classical conditioning would say that if they would expose an individual to their fear then this would change their fear. The principle behind this technique is that it is progressing the person to overcome their fear by making them feel relaxed for example if someone had a phobia of big spiders, then the spider would be exposed to them in different ways in order for them to feel relaxed. This way the individual is shown different relaxation techniques which will reduce their fear. This technique can also be conducted in vitro which is imagined through imagery or in vivo which is real life. Another technique which is used by clinical psychologists
Phobias and Addictions When some see a spider they automatically cringe at the sight of one due to a response in the brain. Some even have panic attacks at the thoughts of going on something as simple as a roller coaster. When we see this the first question we ask them is, why? Most respond with a story from the past of why they do it and we automatically understand. But what if it is deeper than that what if it is no longer the fact that it is the spider bite or the roller coaster that causes the panic attacks or the freak outs.
Learned helplessness, is a term used to describe a biological response of an organism to the repeated and unpredictable exposure to a painful stimuli. Karla Homolka was diagnosed with some of the signs of this condition by Dr. Malcom, after expressing feelings of powerlessness, passivity, and diminished capacity to solve problems2. It has been said that Karla Homolka’s actions were a reaction to the abuse and manipulation of Paul Bernardo, and that she is merely a confused victim of
Systematic Desensitisation is based on the principle of Classical Conditioning and uses Counterconditioning. Classical Conditioning explains how previously neutral stimuli (such as spiders, snakes or buttons) can provoke anxiety in some people because they have become associated with a different even that we naturally find distressing. Counterconditioning involves reducing the conditioned response (such as anxiety or fear) by establishing the incompatible response (relaxation) to the same conditioned stimulus (snake or button). The procedure involves working through an anxiety hierarchy, a series of gradual steps that are determined at the beginning of therapy when the patient and therapist work out a hierarchy of feared stimuli. In this hierarchy, the patient is taught how to relax their body completely, as a relaxed state is incompatible with anxiety.
Maus Essay “Milligrams experiment results showed that the more personal or closer the test subject was to the victim of the shock the less-likely they were to go on with the experiment”(Cherry). These results show that people that were further away or that distanced themselves away from the victim of the shocks were more likely to go to higher voltage shocks. This is what happened in the case of the Nazi guards and the Jew's. The guards distanced themselves from the Jew's, in other words dehumanized them so they can more easily commit atrocious acts of murder and killing and not feel as responsible for it. Dehumanization is a necessary step in genocide because it conveys racism and hate towards the Jews, as well as the psychological distancing
Had the guidelines been in place and the participants informed of the most effective way to behead a rat whilst minimising any pain, suffering or distress, his aim to shock the participants would not have worked. It can be said that this was unnecessary as there are many other ethical ways Landis could have carried out this experiment. For example: instead of trying to shock his participants perhaps he could have studied another emotion humans feel that would follow the BPS guidelines. In addition, the experiment could also have potentially caused psychological harm
The process of dehumanization involves not acknowledging human characteristics within the inferior person/persons. “Denying uniquely human attributes to others represents them as animal-like, and denying human nature to others represents them as objects or automata.” (Haslam, 2006). Making a separate out group that is animal-like, meaning replacing their human characteristics with those of animals, parasites, and other similar organisms gives a message to the inferior group as to the established hierarchy. “Set the construct of “power” next to constructs such as “control,” “dominance,” “outcome dependency,” or “influence,” and you can watch the edges melt and blend together.” (Overbeck, 2001.) Philip Zimbardo’s study is an excellent example to the birth of power within a group, and the cognitive and behavioral abuses that were given and suffered.
'Describe and evaluate two theories of addictive behaviour, in initiation, maintenance, and relapse' Biological models of addictive behaviour focus on the neurotransmitter substances in the brain, and on genetic differences between people with addictions and people without addictions. Biological models of addictive behaviour, it seen that a person would be most susceptible to addiction during the initiation phase, because they have a predisposed biological vulnerability. Such biological predispositions are less likely to have an effect during the maintenance of the addiction. However if a person managed to give up their addiction, a biological predisposition would make them more susceptible to relapse. The neurotransmitter that is most
(Simons, Simons, & Wallace, 2004). Laub and Sampson’s life course perspective builds on social control theory arguing that “early antisocial behavior is related to future offending because it tends to undermine important social controls.” (Simons, Simons, & Wallace, 2004). This theory does not emphasize antisocial behavior as the life-altering problem but suggests that antisocial behavior causes a breakdown of social and institutional bonds. (Simons, Simons, & Wallace, 2004). Antisocial behavior causes parents to reduce their monitoring and discipline resulting in weakened ties that affect other social controls.