"Discuss how theoretical models in psychology can contribute to our understand of deviant behaviour in adolescence."
"Discuss how theoretical models in psychology can contribute to our understand of deviant behaviour in adolescence." Through the course of this essay I will evaluate the different theories of adolescences in order to account for some of the deviant behaviour that is associated with adolescence, it will therefore be necessary to discuss the physical and psychological process that occur at this distinctive stage of lifespan development and the effects that these have on behaviour. Adolescence comes from the Latin word adolescere, which means 'to grow into maturity' its start is generally marked by the biological onset of puberty, which signals the end of childhood, this brings with it an array of psychological, sociological and biological changes, which cause a period of turmoil and anxiety which extends rouffly from the age of eleven to twenty in western societies. Hall is seen as the father of scientific study of adolescence, he emphasized the hormonal, biological and physical changes of puberty as the driving force of 'storm and stress' experienced by adolescences. The psychoanalytic approach to adolescences is characterised by three ideas and concentrates on the psych-sexual development, which starts with the upsurge of instincts, which occur as a result of puberty. Freud (1937) states, " this upsets the psychic balance that was achieved at the end of childhood,
"Discuss the main tenets of the labelling perspective on crime and deviance. Also consider the limitations and the implications for policy that might be derived from this approach".
Crime, Deviance and Social Policy SA2770 Card no.0144298 "Discuss the main tenets of the labelling perspective on crime and deviance. Also consider the limitations and the implications for policy that might be derived from this approach". In this essay, I would like to explain some of the basic concepts and ideology of the labelling perspective, as are common with the most influential writers of this topic (Although there are too many to mention them all). This will be followed by in-depth explanations of arguments formed by early labelling theorists and the similarities etc between them, and later studies to verify the arguments presented by these theorists, who will be contrasted with the more modern labelling beliefs, arguments and ideas. Ideas both old and new will be assessed, and finally evaluated to establish if or even how they can cause implications to policy. This will then be completed ultimately with a summary of criticisms and then a full conclusion. The labelling perspective Prior to the Labelling perspective, the majority of criminologists had a "non-problematic conception of crime" I.e. Criminal behaviour/activity was just simply something that broke the law. The ideas that followed by labelling theorists argued that no behaviour is "inherently" criminal, wrong or deviant. The behaviour only turns into that of criminal or deviant behaviour when it
"Truth" - With controvesy comes success.
Rachel Corbin Writing 140 - Section 90675 Edwards 24 April 2003 Assignment # 5 "TRUTH": WITH CONTROVERSY COMES SUCCESS Familiar advertisements such as the vulgar image of a urinal with the trademark orange sign conveniently placed in the center reading, "Your pee contains urea. Thanks to tobacco companies, so do cigarettes. Enjoy," may be remembered since the anti-tobacco organization "truth" was established in 1999. Another including a photograph of dog feces also with a small orange sign reading, "Cigarettes contain ammonia, so does dog poop," are only few of the shocking advertisements by "truth" viewed in popular teen magazines. Using these aggressive and direct methods of educating the public- specifically young teens ages twelve to seventeen- "truth" uncovers the many lies and secrets of large tobacco companies. Nonetheless, "truth" may be considered to be extreme by some, and to the tobacco industry, the organization has become a nuisance. The philosophy of "truth" is to expose the lies and hidden practices of the tobacco industry. Although the controversial advertisements and methodology of the "truth" campaign maybe too cutting edge and in your face, but such methods are needed in order to change social views on smoking tobacco, and "truth" has thus proven to be successful in educating the public, as well as reducing smoking among America's youth.
Critically evaluate trait theories of personality.
Critically evaluate trait theories of personality. "There are as many definitions of personality as there are personality psychologists" is what Sternberg stated about personality (Intelligence and Personality /Sternberg). Unfortunately, this statement isn't far from the truth. Personality is one of the most general and unclearly defined terms in psychology (Eysenck, 1957). This essay evaluates trait theories of personality on the basis of Block, Weiss and Thorne's (1979) definition of personality: Personality refers to "more of less stable internal factors that make one person's behaviour consistent from one time to another, and different from the behaviour other people would manifest in comparable situations". To begin with it will present a general description of trait theories. It then assesses trait theories on several levels of analysis. It begins by looking at the validity and reliability of assessment forms for traits and the resulting predictive value specific traits in people will have on behaviour. It then evaluates individual and situational factors that affect predictability. The extent to which trait theories can be used to predict behaviour and in which situations. An assessment of the practical application and benefit the development of trait theories has had in different areas follows. Finally trait theories of personality are compared to other
A Discussion of the Foremost Factors influencing Efficacy of Punishment and its Success in Animal, Children and Criminal Studies.
A Discussion of the Foremost Factors influencing Efficacy of Punishment and its Success in Animal, Children and Criminal Studies. Abstract Punishment is a learning theory aimed at reducing the probability of an unwanted response in presenting an unpleasant stimulus or removing a pleasant one. In depth studies, of history, conditioned stimuli, reinforcement and punishment schedule, magnitude, immediacy, and stimulus control regarding punishment, have proven them to be important factors in determining the success rate. However, further research has revealed possible side effects of such treatment and a minimal efficacy in regards to criminal punishment used by the justice system. Nevertheless it is believed that punishment is still a viable option in suppressing unwanted behaviour under certain circumstances and after careful consideration of the factors in play. Punishment is a reduction of the likelihood of a specific response in presenting an immediate delivery of an unpleasant stimulus or the removal of a pleasant one (Bernstein, Penner, Clarke-Stewart, & Roy, 2006; Lieberman, 2000). This approach is that of operant conditioning where an organism responds to its environment in order to minimize the stimulation by ceasing the unwanted behaviour (Azrin & Holz, 1966). Due to moral and ethical issues in regards of using punishment to treat behavioural problems, experiments
Do the Media Inform or Misinform the Public about the Nature and Extent of Crime in Britain?
Word Count: 2,252 Student Number: 032411410. Do the Media Inform or Misinform the Public about the Nature and Extent of Crime in Britain? There is continuous debate on the effectiveness of media reporting with regards to informing the public about crime. The media have motive, methods by, which they distort information, and evidence of the affects of their misinforming the public. However the media do inform the public with regards to problems in our society, without the media we would know nothing. The public also need to be thought of when trying to decipher whether the media does in fact misinform them. There are certain motives, which may suggest that the media do in fact misinform the public with regards to the nature and extent of crime. The Marxist 'mass manipulation' models suggest that the excess of crime stories are there as a way to divert attention away from the real problems in a capitalist society. They see media manipulation and distortion as a way in, which the upper classes control and extend their power out over the lower or working classes. Through diverting attention away from central issues the upper classes are able to retain their power and the established social hierarchy. 'The class which has the means of material production at its disposal has control at the same time over the means of mental production, so that thereby, generally speaking, the
According to social identity theory individuals hold conceptualisations of the self at both an individual and a social level
According to social identity theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1986), individuals hold conceptualisations of the self at both an individual and a social level (as cited in Ellemers, Spears & Doosje, 2002). In contrast to characterisations of personal identity, which may be highly idiosyncratic, social identities assume some commonality with others; therefore, our social identities are grounded in our perceptions of social group membership (Deaux, 2001). These perceptions include an acknowledgment of, and comparison with other social groups to which we do not belong, and they create boundaries between conceptions of 'us' and 'them' (Friese, 2001). Since its original formulation, social identity theory (SIT) has grown to become a major psychological perspective on the social group, and inter group processes and relations (Augoustinos & Reynolds, 2001). SIT assumes that people are motivated to think well of themselves; at the level of personal identity, this manifests itself as a drive for positive self-esteem. At the group level though, it manifests itself as a drive for positive inter group differentiation, or positive in-group distinctiveness (Walker, 1999). Based on two core assumptions, categorisation and enhancement; SIT posits that when group boundaries are made salient, individuals categorise people as members of their own group (in- group) or as members of another group (out-
Compare and Contrast the Processes Involved in Majority and Minority Social Influence.
Compare and Contrast the Processes Involved in Majority and Minority Social Influence. An important type of social influence is conformity. Conformity occurs when someone voluntarily performs an act because others are doing it. That is, by conforming, someone is acting at odds with one's beliefs or perceptions because other people are acting in that way. From this stems two opposing views of influence, majority and minority influence. The brilliant series of experiments carried out by Solomon Asch (1952) is a great example of majority influence. Asch was not the first investigator to study conformity, but his approach was the most direct and dramatic. He reasons that perhaps conformity occurred in only rather ambiguous situations, when people were quite uncertain about the correct standard of behaviour was. He thought that if the stimulus situation was clear, there would be little or no conformity as people would trust their own perceptions and remain independent. Five students arrived to take part in a study of perception. They sat around a table and were told they would be judging the lengths of lines. They were shown a white card on which three black lines of varying lengths had been drawn and a second card containing one line. Their task was to choose the line of the first card that was most similar in length to the line on the second. One of the lines was exactly the
Is there really such thing as Stockholm syndrome? The term Stockholm syndrome can be seen as a psychological shift when a captor portrays acts of kindness to their hostage that the hostage deems hospitable
Word Count excluding references: 3928 Is there really such thing as Stockholm,what is its past and how does it affect our world? In psychology, Stockholm syndrome is a term used to describe a paradoxical psychological phenomenon wherein hostages express adulation and have positive feelings towards their captors that appear irrational in light of the danger or risk endured by the victims. [1] Psychiatrist Nils Bejerot expressed what we know as 'Stockholm syndrome' in a news broadcast after assisting police in 1973 with their enquiries in Normalmsmorg in Stockholm where a group of people were held captive in a bank. The hostages were held captive from August 23 to August 28, 1973. During this period the hostages became emotionally attached to their captors and when they were released defended their captors in a way that could be deemed as both irrational and inappropriate to an average individual. For example in 1934 Mary McElroy was kidnapped and held ransom, she was released unharmed yet when released defended her captors in court after they were given harsh sentences (including a death sentence). She said that the experience had been a positive one and that she felt no damage from the incident which occurred. Reports however stated that she suffered great grief and guilt which compromised her mental and physical health: because of this in 1940 she took her own life. [5]
Summary of a Psychology Journal
Tutorial Assignment Summary of a Psychological Journal Joel Falken-Smith Elizabeth R. Tenney, Robert J. MacCoun, Barbara A. Spellman and Reid Hastie were interested in witness credibility. Specifically the confidence shown by a witness whilst delivering evidence to a juror and whether or not their level of confidence affected how credible the juror perceived their evidence to be once it was revealed that some of the evidence was erroneous. Two experiments were undertaken in order to obtain the results necessary to deduce whether or not the hypothesis that the more confident you are about the testimony and it is found to be wrong, the less likely people will believe you even when you are right. However when pitted against someone who appeared less confident about the erroneous evidence they will more likely side with them on the second piece of evidence given. Forty-eight undergraduates took part in the experiment and they were asked to read a nine-page written trial summary of a breaking-and-entering case that allegedly occurred on a college campus. Four versions of the case were constructed to create a 2 × 2 between-subjects factorial design with two levels of witness confidence (high vs. low) and two levels of witness error (no error vs. error). The witnesses were asked to give evidence about a robbery on campus and in the high vs low condition the high confidence