6. Assess The Use Of Social Control In Psychology Flashcards
What is the structure/ AO1 and AO3
-AO1 = outline of therapy and link to topics
-AO3 = are there any practical or ethical issues/ what are the applications/ is it justified
For the learning topic, assess token economy as a form of social control- strength and weakness
-AO1: Token economy programmes are used in prisons, schools, and as a form of treatment for anorexia. They are based on the theory of operant conditioning, in that a person is positively reinforced (gains something good) for displaying desired behaviour e.g eating a meal or not acting aggressively. The tokens which the patients receive are a secondary reinforcer, and when a set number of these are reached, they can be traded in for something high value to the patient e.g their phone, satisfying biological enate. Schedules of reinforcement may also be used e.g fixed ratio, so patient has to receive 8 tokens before rewarded.
-AO3 STRENGTH: There is evidence to support the use of token economy programmes, such as Sonoda, who found a 10 year old girl started treatment as 20.4 kg, and through using the token system for 9 months increased to 25kg. This shows it is an effective form of social control, as it saves the lives of those with anorexia, and can improve the lives of prisoners, making society safer, and has no side effects.
-AO3 WEAKNESS: However, practically, the treatment is only as good as the staff delivery, which may limit its effectiveness, and from an ethical point of view the practitioner has the power, and it may even be used against a patients will if under the mental health act
-AO3 JUDGEMENT: Overall this is a positive form of social control because the intention is to safe or improve lives therefore is beneficial to society and to the individual themselves , changing their behaviour for their own benefit
For the learning topic, assess systematic desensitisation- strength and weakness
-AO1: Systematic desensitisation is a treatment for phobias that uses the process of classical conditioning. Patients are taught relaxation methods such as meditation, thinking happy thoughts, breathing techniques etc, which are then tested as they work their way up an anxiety hierarchy which they constructed with a therapist, until the phobia is distinguished as they’ve learnt to cope. The phobia (NS) is associated with desensitisation methods (UCS) to give positive (CR)
-AO1 STRENGTH: Research which proves its effectiveness is Capafons, who successfully treated 90% of patients with a fear of flying using systematic desensitisation. Ethical treatment as goes at patients own pace, they have an element of control themselves
-AO3 WEAKNESS: However, practically is a slow method taking between 12-15 weeks for success, and it requires ongoing motivation from the patient to continue with the treatment
AO3 JUDGEMENT: SD is a positive form of social control as it is benefiting the patient by improving their life, and is conducted in both a practical and ethical way making ppts likelihood to engage and get treated high
For the social topic, assess the use of superordinate goals- strength and weakness
-AO1: Superordinate goals can be used to reduce prejudice as this is a task that is split equally between all members of a group, which in order to successfully complete, all members must participate, which highlights the equal value of every individual. This can therefore be applied to the jigsaw teaching method used in classrooms, or may be used in a charity football match to reduce prejudice between teams
-AO3 STRENGTH: Research to support is Sherif’s robber cave experiment, who found the introduction of superordinate goals such as starting up a truck and fixing a water supply reduced friction between the 2 groups of boys, and friendships increased.
-AO3 WEAKNESS: Practical issues however could be that it’s very hard to break someone’s stereotypes on an outgroup, which could mean they refuse to participate in the superordinate goal to begin with, therefore conflict is not reduced
-AO3 JUDGEMENT: This is a positive form of social control as it is improving prejudice and conflict within society, but not in a forceful or powerful way, as will only work if groups participate, it isn’t something which can be forced upon someone.
For the social topic, assess social identity as a form of social control- strength and weakness
-AO1: Social identity theory can explain the cause of the world wars, as the Nazis and Jews were 2 separate groups, ingroup and outgroup (social categorisation). They identified as apart of their group through wearing symbols, the Jews the Star of David and the nazis the swastika. This created ingroup favouritism and outgroup negative bias, shown through the killing of the Jews in the concentration camps.
-AO3 STRENGTH: Research to show this does cause prejudice is Jane Elliot’s blue eye brown eye experiment. When the class was viewed as a whole, discrimination was not displayed to each other, however when separated into blue eyes, and brown eyes, the children showed prejudice and were discriminatory to the out group.
-AO3 WEAKNESS: Extremely unethical as a form of social control. Someone’s identity is enough to cause discrimination and result in their death. Throughout society there will always be in groups and outgroups which will be hard to control and prevent in the future from prejudice and discrimination being shown.
-AO3 JUDGEMENT: Negative form of social control because can very easily result in prejudice, discrimination and death of those different to us in society if taken out of hand. Someone’s identity isn’t something we can control and needs to be something that as a society we work on accepting.
For the cognitive topic, assess false memory syndrome-strength and weakness
-AO1: False memory syndrome is when a person has an apparent recollection of an event that didn’t actually occur. This can be explained by Bartlett’s reconstructive memory explanation. He says we don’t recall memories as exact copies of what we saw, instead we use schemas past stores of information to help make sense of the current situation. He says confabulation is when brand new information is added into a memory, to help piece information together. For example Loftus’ experiment with Bugs Bunny and Disneyland
AO3 STRENGTH:
AO3 WEAKNESS:
For the cognitive topic, assess anger management as a form of social control- strength and weakness
-AO1: Anger management is a form of social control whereby aggressive and violent learn to control and manage their anger, by thinking about the negative consequences it may have, and they do role play to test out the methods such as slow breathing 1-10 and stop and think
-AO3 STRENGTH: More ethical as no side effects
-AO3 WEAKNESS: Patient has to stay engaged and willing to improve for treatment to work, can be time consuming and requires training of people to carry out the CBT programme
For the learning topic, assess flooding as a form of social control- strength and weakness
-AO1: Flooding is a treatment for phobias whereby a patient is exposed to the highest anxiety provoking situation for their phobia straight away. They are prevented from leaving and escaping this phobia for a period of a few hours, so that they learn there is no negative consequence to the phobia, and it becomes extinguished. The individual becomes too physically exhausted to remain anxious and therefore calm down, this is reciprocal inhibition whereby you can’t feel 2 opposing emotions at the same time.
-AO3 STRENGTH: Research to support the effectiveness of SD is Emmelamp and Rachman who found 75% of their 70 agrophobics were still benefiting from the effects of their treatment 4 years later
-AO3 WEAKNESS: However, may be unethical as exposing patient to such high anxiety and preventing them from leaving may trigger severe panic attacks, and practically it is hard for patients to start or complete treatment due to how extreme it is
-AO3 JUDGEMENT: This is a positive form of social control as it treats individuals from their phobias, however SD is more ethical as the patient has an element of control themselves over the process, meaning anxiety levels are controlled.
For the bio topic, assess hormone therapy as a form of social control- strength and weakness
-AO1: Hormone therapy is a treatment used for sex offenders and violent criminals whereby they are given drugs as an intramuscular depot injection in dosage levels between 300-400mg every 7 to 10 days. It is used to lower testosterone levels and other hormones which leads to the decrease of sexual urges, changing the behaviour of individuals in society.
-AO3 STRENGTH: Maletzsky found that people who had the MPA committed no new sexual offences whereas 58.8% reoffended who didn’t have drug. This shows it is effective within society, as it is decreasing recidivism rates, which makes society as safer environment.
-AO3 WEAKNESS: Hormone therapy has some unpleasant side effects such as liver dysfunction, breast enlargement, osteoporosis, and depression. This is a practical issue which may limit the use of the treatment within society, and may be considered unethical if it’s court ordered, going against patients will
-AO3 JUDGEMENT: Hormone therapy is a positive form of social control as it is improving the life of the individual and society by making it a safer environment by reducing recidivism rates. It can be stopped and withdrawn at any point, however this means it’s effects aren’t long term.
For biological topic, assess prefrontal lobotomies as a form of social control- strength and weakness
-AO1: A lobotomy is a form of neurosurgical treatment that involves severing connections in the brain’s prefrontal cortex. Surgeons would go up through the nose or through the eye socket to cut the connections. In the past this treatment was used for patients with psychiatric disorders and mental illness, to make them more manageable whilst being in institutions.
-AO1 STRENGTH: The intended effect of a lobotomy is reduced tension or agitation, which many early patients did exhibit those changes, and it did make these patients more ‘manageable’ for staff in an institution.
-AO3 WEAKNESS: However, very unethical and painful procedure,causes harm such as apathy, passivity, lack of initiative, poor ability to concentrate, and a generally decreased depth and intensity of their emotional response to life. This didn’t treat the cause of the mental disorder, only provided long term brain damage
-AO3 JUDGEMENT: A negative form of social control as permanently disrupting the brain connections has long term consequences, and doesn’t actually treat the cause of the mental disorders, just made the patients more manageable therefore not justifiable.
For the biological topic, assess drug treatment as a form of social control- strength and weakness
