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Does psychology fit into the idea of being a science
What is the definition and nature of psychology
Does psychology fit into the idea of being a science
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In the article, “What Science Tells Us About Good and Evil” states that “ Other studies have measured callousness and lack of emotional expression in adolescents using questions like whether the subject feels guilty upon doing something wrong”, I was quite surprised with this statement. I feel like teens would be the more emotional ones especially going through hormones they definitely don't lack emotions. It is actually surprising that studies show that because I don't think that would be true depending on teens attitudes it's not so believable for me, but on the other hand they are not normal teens if they are doing evil acts. There must be something psychologically wrong with them. I don’t think that kids can just be born psychopaths I
What causes psychopathy? This has been a major concern for many researchers. Research on psychopathy has sparked a debate that has been existent for years, which is the nature versus nurture debate. The proponents of both sides have each put forward credible evidences to support their positions. Proponents of the nature theory believe that psychopathy is innate. They hold the belief that psychopaths are born with the disorder. Hence, psychopathy is influenced by biological and hereditary factors. In contrast, opponents of the nature theory believe that a person’s personal experiences are the reasons for his or her exhibition of psychopathic characteristics. That is, a person with a defective childhood has a very high probability of displaying
To begin with, the purpose of the first experiment was to uncover which brain areas are associated with abnormal emotional processing and the subsequent disturbed social interactions that follow. The total amount of participants after excluding 2 due to artifacts was 12 right handed males. The control group was composed of 6 healthy males who had no history of neuropsychiatric problems, a mean age of 28.8, and standard deviation of 4.14. The experimental group was composed of 6 psychopathic individuals who were convicted criminals and taken from a high security psychiatric ward with a mean age of 33, and a standard deviation of 8. The researchers measured psychopathy by using the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R [that measured psychopathy on a scale of 0-40]). They used the Positive and Negative Affect schedule (PANAS) to assess global affect states before conducting the experim...
However, Glenn and Raine (2014) argue that the emotional deficits characteristic of psychopaths diminish their rational capacity, making them unable to be held accountable for the rash and harmful decisions. Additionally, psychopaths may display knowledge of right and wrong, however their understanding is substantially compromised (Maibom 2005). Therefore, because they cannot understand moral emotions, moral transgressions fail to motivate them and they cannot be held morally responsible for their actions. They treat moral transgressions as equal to conventional transgressions (Levy 2008); to them, they are merely breaking the rules. And although breaking the rules begets consequences, a short attention span prevents psychopaths from anticipating consequences. Nevertheless, say, for example, a psychopath on a different portion of the spectrum is aware of the consequences. In this case, they would be still be indifferent because their feelings of grandeur lead them to believe that they are removed from punishment (Gao, Glenn, Schug, Yang, Raine 2009). For these reasons, many argue that psychopaths should not be held responsible for their behaviors.
The article “Startling Finds on Teenage Brains”, by Paul Thompson, states “While research on brain-tissue loss can help us to understand teens better, it cannot be used to excuse their violent or homicidal behavior”. Thompson writes how even though teens cannot be understandable, they have a certain behavior that was caused by violent or harmful issues they've had at their young childhood. Another example would be in the article “Juveniles Don't Deserve Life Sentences”, by Gail Garinger, says “These children were told that they could never change and that no one cared what became of them”. This shows how these kids can have negative feelings about what they are told at a young age, leading to crimes. Every teen that has committed a crime has had a certain issue or negative way of growing
[11] Blair, R. J. R. (2007). The amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex in morality and psychopathy. Trends in cognitive sciences, 11(9), 387-392.
“The Possibility of Evil" by Shirley Jackson is about an elderly woman named Miss. Strangeworth who sees that there is “evil” in her town. She tries to fix the problem by anonymously sending letters to other people. Miss. Strangeworth feels that it is her responsibility to keep the town safe from the “evil”.
Karma comes in two ways, good karma or bad karma. However Miss Strangeworth got the worst kind ever, revenge karma. In the short story, The Possibility of Evil by Shirley Jackson, it is clear that judging others can result to bad karma, because she judges her town, and consequences return the favor. She is shallow and has too much power, however it starts with judgement. The Possibility of Evil takes us through a journey of a selfish woman and her consequences.
The study of psychopathy in children and adolescents is hardly a new concept first being proposed by Cleckley (1941) and then more in depth by McCord and McCord (1959/1964) in their book The Pyschopath: An Essay on the Criminal Mind which, perhaps most importantly, emphasized that psychopathy in youth was decidedly different than other conduct disorders (being much rarer) and highlighting the need for early intervention for adolescents showing psychopathic traits (Salekin & Frick, 2005). So if psychopathy does indeed begin to manifest in childhood or adolescence how do we accurately measure it and how (if at all) can we treat it? Here we will discuss the relevant research on psychopathy and psychopathic traits primarily in children and early adolescents, discuss the current assessment measures, possible treatment strategies, as well as exploring the relatio...
Zadie Smith utilizes her writing to dismantle society’s simplistic views on life that she has internalized. Through anecdotes and contemplation of her daily life, Smith measures her understanding of the world against society’s conventional beliefs. She notes that society has a tendency to disregard the complexities of life and merely view life itself as a spectrum for the sake of clarity. Whether inspecting the difficult concepts of joy, the apathetic writer, or the hazy battle of Good vs Evil, Smith realizes that life is not always as clear cut as it seems.
Seagrave, D., & Grisso, T. (2002). Adolescent development and the measurement of juvenile psychopathy. Law and human behavior, 26(2), 219.
Robert D. Hare’s book Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of Psychopaths Among Us focuses on psychopathy in our society. In the book, the author highlights the characteristics of psychopaths in a simple manner that are understandable to an everyday reader. Psychopaths are individuals who are deceitful and manipulative and they don’t care who they hurt. Hare points out his personal experience with psychopath in prison that eventually lead him to create The Psychopathy Checklist-Revised. In the Checklist, Hare emphasizes characteristics that makes someone a psychopath such as “shallow emotions, deceitful and manipulative behavior, lack of guilt, lack of empathy, impulsiveness, poor behavior control, lack of responsibility, need for excitement, early behavior problems, glib and grandiose behavior” (Hare 1993, p. 34). The author employs detailed interviews and a close study of psychopaths to research and create an instrument that could help detect psychopathy. In the book, Hare goes further to provide
From the creation of mankind until now, it has been common for man to fall prey to raw emotions like anger and envy. Even Cain and Abel involved a man who was so angry and envious that he found it necessary to commit fratricide. In making ourselves victims, we allow these emotions to cloud judgement. Is this why violence starts so early in adolescence? For example, according to the CDC Fact Sheet on Youth Violence (2012), homicide is the second leading cause of death for youth aged 15-24. Juveniles under the age of 18 were responsible for 13.7% of crimes related to violence. As our society glorifies violence through entertainment like Grand Theft Auto and The Walking Dead, we inadvertently encourage youth to be prideful in their raw emotions. Does our culture look to violence as a form of security and comfort? According to Vox's Infographic from America's Gun Problem, the United States has some of the highest gun homicide rates in the world as opposed to countries like Sweden, Finland, and Canada! Unfortunately, our culture has adopted violence as a natural routine that we refuse to progress without. If our society is going to rehabilitate, then we must recognize the issues that are both our spitefulness and
First, according to Mental Health Daily, the brain is only roughly halfway through the entire stage of development at the age of 18. The prefrontal cortex doesn’t have nearly the functional capacity at age 18 as it does at 25. State by the Ethic book, Neuroscientist found that “moral grammar” exists around universal sense of right of wrong. Teen’s lack the part of the brain that helps with reasoning and judgment and do not have a fully developed cerebellum, which control impulses. This can separate teens from adults. Teenagers cannot possibly be expected to endure the same consequence as fully matured adults.
Robert Kinsercherff said “juveniles who kill usually fit into one of three categories.” The 3 categories Kinsercherff notes was that 90% of the juveniles committing the crime were severely abused or maltreated, and the remaining were extremely ill or were manipulative. He then also explains that many times the child feels isolated and thinks that there is no help, and usually there is substance abuse in the families. Additionally, they exclaim that teens act more impulsively and often make poor judgements because they don’t think about the
What causes juvenile lawlessness? A man named Sigmund Freud determined that our unconscious controls our personalities, which in turn controls our behaviours. Our personalities include three parts known as the id, the ego, and the superego. The id is present since creation and knows no rules or limitations, as it will unite dreams and realities. The id is unreasoning when concerning instinctual wants, or needs. A running id, with no control, could ruin a human. The ego expands on the id, disuniting dreams and realities. The ego represents the inquisitive dimension in our personalities, while resisting impulses.The superego expands on the ego, representing norms or values that a minor, or a child, has learned. The superego is closest to our consciousness, including reactions like happiness, remorse, or shame. In those with sound minds, the id, the ego, and the superego unite to work. When the id, the ego, and the superego deteriorate, minds turn unwell, or criminal in nature. Freud never reviewed crime, but he inspired criminologists, who expanded on the id, the ego, and the superego.