Are psychological therapies a form of social control? Flashcards
What is social control?
the regulation of people’s behavior for social purposes. It may be to benefit society as a whole by modifying the individual’s behavior so they can become a productive member of society or fit in better however it does have social and moral issues.
Token Economy
Token Economy is the idea that behavior is managed using operant conditioning principles and tokens given as rewards for desirable behavior and then the tokens are exchanged for something the individuals want.
Token Economy Ethical Issues
Behavior management involves ethical issues because someone has to decide which behavior is desirable, and token economies are used in cases where the individual’s behavior is considered undesirable. This means that the individual’s rights are likely to be infringed, as they are required to change their behavior for some reward. If the reward is an addition to their usual requirements, this might be seen as ethical. However, if the reward includes what is necessary (such as a meal), then the approach might be considered unethical.
Token Economy social implications
It can control unwanted behaviors such as aggression in Prisons and can improve the quality of life for some individuals. These are seen as a good thing for society. However, it doesn’t generalize outside of the institutionalized setting and so wouldn’t really benefit society outside of the institutional setting as the desirable behavior may stop when tokens stop. Outside of the setting they are able to access whatever they want from the shops etc. so this really means that it is impossible to give tokens outside of the controlled setting
Token Economy Ethical issue - mental disorders
Sometimes the treatment is used for those with a mental disorder, which might mean they have little free will over being involved in the programme
Aversion Therapy
This involves using classical conditioning principles of associating a trigger with a conditioned response. In the case of aversion therapy is can involve using emetic drugs in order to associate drinking alcohol with feelings of nausea that you get from taking the drug. This means that when people think about alcohol they will start thinking about being sick, which will put them off of it
Aversion Therapy Ethical Issue
Conditioning an adverse response in someone is not something to be undertaken lightly: the therapies has power over the patient. In some situations, such as in prisons and other institutions, it is possible for someone to be pressured into such treatment be removing their power to say no, or by making them feel they cannot refuse
Aversion Therapy Advantages
Therapies based on classical conditioning have been used to help people e.g. aversion therapy used to help people stop smoking or taking alcohol. In practice, the therapy involves building a good relationship between the client and the practitioner, including other therapy such as counseling, and deciding on a treatment plan that suits each individual. Classical conditioning is not used in isolation, and the patient/client is usually involved in the treatment – they give informed consent and have the right to withdraw
Aversion Therapy Social Implications
It can be abused in society to get rid of unwanted behaviors that are socially undesirable for some but are not a problem or ‘wrong’ such as homosexuality. Also it may not be effective in the long term, which means that society will have to suffer the same problems associated with alcoholics later on and it only deals with the symptoms and not the causes. This could also mean that the problem could reoccur if the spark, happened again
Drug Therapy
All societies have rules, norms and customs, which people learn through socialization. In general, people are expected to conform to such rules without any ‘social control’ but there are occasions when social control is needed. Drugs can help to control behaviour and are used by those that are ‘normal’ to make those more ‘abnormal’ be more like them.
Drug Therapy Ethical issues
The main ethical issue is about who has the power to make a decision to control someone Else’s behavior. the individual might be thought of as not being able to make decisions for themselves. It is often thought that professionals are in a better position to make such decisions.
Drug Therapy Practical Issues
Checking whether a person is taking the drugs they are prescribed. Schizophrenia, for example, can be controlled using drug therapy but, once controlled, there is a tendency for the patient not to continue with the drug therapy and so there is often a relapse. Also drug therapy is thought to be effective but only in conjunction with other forms of treatment.
