Case 3 Flashcards
• What is meaning in life?
Meaning: “loving objects worthy of love and engaging with them in a positive way”
- Subjective element: the need to find one’s passion; caring, being gripped, excited, engaged - Objective element: being part of something bigger than oneself - Not “radically objective” - Useful (versus futile) - Challenging, develop one’s potential (versus routinized) - Meaning arises when subjective attraction meets objective attractiveness, and one can do something good or positive about it. - A person’s life can be meaningful only if they care fairly deeply about some things; as they love something, as opposed to being bored by or alienated from most or all that they do. Even a person who is engaged, however, will not live a meaningful life if the objects or activities which they are occupied with are worthless. A person who loves smoking pot all day long, or doing endless crossword puzzles, and has the luxury of being able to indulge in this without limit does not thereby make her life meaningful. Finally, this conception of meaning specifies that the relationship between 8 the subject and the object of her attraction must be an active one. Mere passive recognition and a positive attitude toward an object’s or activity’s value is not sufficient for a meaningful life. One must be able to be in some sort of relationship with the valuable object of one’s attention – to create it, protect it, promote it, honor it, or more generally, to actively affirm it in some way or other.
o 26 sources of meaning grouped into 4 dimensions:
- Self-transcendence (e.g., “I try to make the world a better place to live in”) most strongly related to a sense of life meaning - Self-actualization - Order - Well-being and relatedness
- subjective well-being (SWB)
–> consists of three
components:
life satisfaction,
the presence of positive mood,
and the absence of
negative mood,
–> together often summarized as happiness
• What is the definition of a meaningful life (goal-direction)
o Having goals helps us to solve complexity. It helps us make sense of the world around us.
o If you have a goal, you go blind for all the other things that you might want to/need to pay attention to. In drug users, for example, their main goal is their next fix; drugs are “highlighted” while other thinks, such as making friends, showing up for work, picking up the kids, etc. are in the dark. This is also explained by the salience landscape: the goals can be seen as peaked in the landscape. Those peaks are the only things that grab our true attention. If there are other peaks next to drug use, these can also fulfill a drug user’s needs. A meaningful life would thus consist of healthy and fulfilling peaks.
goals have to be not too easy or too hard
- Goals related to purpose of life
- Self-concordant goals are those that fulfill basic needs that are aligned with one’s true self
- Have to be your goals intrinsic goals, does not work if someone decides for you what your goals are
- (when we care about something we go beyond wanting it)
• How is action based on meaningful value/goal different than action based on simple desire (impulsivity)?
immediate goal pursuit vs. long-term goals
–> internally motivated instead of externally motivated
When negative experiences are too strong, they can form phobias. When positive experiences are too strong, they can form impulsivity. A positive experience can strengthen certain peaks which makes us more prone to act upon these peaks positive feedback loop. When the action we act upon is unhealthy (e.g., drug use), this isn’t contributing to a meaningful life (because drugs are “worthless” through the definition of the objective element of a meaningful life); it isn’t contributing to attaining our long-term goals. On the other hand, acting based on reason and careful deliberation can contribute to long-term fulfillment and attaining goals through horizontal and vertical coherence.
• What are hedonistic and eudaimonic goals
hedonism = reflects the view that wellbeing consists of pleasure or happiness
eudaimonism = well-being consists of more than just happiness; conveying the belief that well-being consists of
fulfilling or realizing one’s daimon or true nature; It lies instead in the actualization of human potentials
Hedonic is about –> subjective well-being
Eudaimonic is about –> psychological well-being
(PWB): that taps six distinct aspects of human actualization: autonomy personal growth self-acceptance life purpose, mastery positive relatedness
• How does ‘care’ relate to meaning in life
You care about something and that gives you reasons for doing or not doing something.
You can’t choose what you love. We do not often times know why.
–> “loving objects worthy of love and engaging with them in a
positive way”
§ Subjective: need to find one’s passion;
caring, being gripped, excited, engaged
§ Objective: being part of something bigger
than oneself
§ Not ‘radically objective’
§ Useful (v. futile)
§ Challenging, develop one’s potential (v.
routinized)
§ Study on goal source of intrinsic v. extrinsic § Intrinsic goals = more effort and attainment § Relation between attainment and wellbeing stronger for intrinsic goal
When we care about something, we go beyond wanting it. We want to go on wanting it, at least until the goal has been reached --> volitional commitment
“Love is not a conclusion. It is not
an outcome of reasoning. It creates
reasons
–> involuntary
• How can meaning in life affect the use of alcohol and drug
Motivational model of substance use:
Lack of valued non-substance goals:
- Use of alcohol/drugs to fulfill affective needs
- More negative affect (boredom, depression), which prompts substance use
- Increase value of substance behavior (Focalism)
- more attention to substance use cues (e.g., gorilla illusion)
- Less reason to withstand a temptation
• How might alcohol and drug use influence the ability to have a meaningful life
Effect of substance use on goals:
- Less reward responding to non-substance use goals and greater response to alcohol goals - Adolescent use restricts incentive opportunities through worse education, financial situation. - drinking alc. decreases the resources for building meaning, which in turn influences forming goals/incentives for meaning, which increases further alcohol consumption, which lead to more impulsivity which further enhances alcohol consumtion and lesser meaning in life - Rat park increased meaning and social connection, less likely to consume drugs again or continue to use drugs
• How could clinicians help a client to build a meaningful life
important to increase the insight in substance use bc it is associated with treatment motivation and effectiveness
- Very hard to establish a therapeutic relationship with people with ASPD, important for a therapist to take the lead in therapy to create a good patient-therapist relationship
- Therapist might carry the greater burden
- Important for the therapist to be aware of that bc it can be very stressful for the therapist
- Important to work with the RNR-model interventions should be met with the offenders and that also may improve the effect of treatment
- Impulsivity is negatively related to treatment, not sufficiently motivated
- obstruct self-regulation and short term-goal attainment
- greater impulsivity has been related to relapse in substance abuse
- Does not matter what the purpose of life is, but when it motivates you, it can change your life and thus be helpful in treatment
- Having a purpose fosters behavior-change
Relation between attainment and well-being stronger for intrinsic goals
• What are the treatment principles related to a meaningful life
1) – interpersonal skills training prevent reoffending, improves interacting with other people
Helps connect with other people, sense of belonging, improves self-esteem
Alternatives on how to deal with specific situations instead of offending
- Aggression-replacement training:
a form of CBT, FREQUENTLY USED FOR AGGRESSIVE BEHavior - consist of three types of training
Aggression-replacement training (ART) - Social skills training, responding in a social way
- anger control training, more control over aggressive thoughts and aggressive impulses
- moral reasoning training
Learning to recognize cognitive distortions, relating to aggression and thinking in a egocentric way, often held in a group - Good Live Model
Identifying what the offender likes to do and which values he thinks are important
Identify the goals and underlying values that were present during the crime (related actions)
Goal: create a rehabilitation plan with new goals and values - Aggression-replacement training has proven to be effective and evidence based
• How is meaning in life related to the Good Lives Model of offender rehabilitation
The Good Lives Model (GLM) is a strength-oriented rehabilitation theory which is focused on offender’s
- interests - abilities - aspirations Whereas many other rehabilitation models are focused on risk assessment, this model is focused on creating productive meaning in life for an offender. This is established by developing an intervention plan, called a Good Lives Plan, in which the offender's personally meaningful goals are listed. From here, the offender is guided in acquiring the capabilities to achieve these personally meaningful goals. While there is a focus on the positive in this model (strength-based), it also acknowledges the importance of risk reduction and thus effectively is focused on both risk reduction and well-being enhancement. It is found to be an effective manner of reducing the risk of recidivism
- focuses on promoting individuals’ important personal goals while at the same time reducing and managing their risk for future offending
- It is a strength-based approach in two respects:
(a) it takes seriously offenders’ personal preferences and values
the things that matter most to them in the world
draws upon these primary goods to motivate individuals to live better lives
(b) therapists seek to provide offenders with the competencies (internal conditions) and opportunities (external conditions) to implement treatment plans based on these primary goods - claim that all individuals typically seek primary human goods and that their attainment is associated with higher levels of well-being and their absence related to psychological problems of various kinds
- In the GLM, criminogenic needs (dynamic risk factors) are internal or external obstacles that frustrate and block the acquisition of primary human goods
The responses to these obstacles are learned and conditioned throughout the individual’s life (might be relatable to Schema therapy)
the individual lacks the ability to obtain important outcomes (i.e., goods) in his/her life, and, is frequently unable to think about his/her life in a reflective manner - a twin focus
(a) promoting goods and
(b) managing/reducing risk - -> coupling that to fostering strengths (approach behavior) to reduce avoidance approaches from criminal risk factors
• What is impulsivity
· Impulse: “a sudden urge to act in response to subjective or external stimuli” (Churchill’s Medical Dictionary, 1989)
· Impulsive: relating to or activated by an impulse, rather than controlled by reason or careful deliberation
· Impulse: sudden urge to act in response to subjective or external stimuli
· Two types of impulsivity: dysfunctional(tendency to act with less for-thought than most people. Leads subject into difficulties) and functional (tendency to act with little for-thought when the situation is optimal)
· DSM: dysfunctional decision making while incorporating dimension of urgency and harmful behavior during emotionally charged situations
· Lack of behavioral inhibition
· There are multiple definitions
• Which types of impulsivity can be distinguished
Dysfunctional impulsivity: tendency to act with less forethought than do most people which leads the subject into difficulties
attentional
reflection-impulsivity
disinhibition dimensions
functional impulsivity: the tendency to act with little forethought when the situation is optimal
• Which mental disorders are related to impulsivity
Addiction/substance abuse disorder:
–> Longer duration/larger intake than intended
–> Unsuccesful efforts to stop
–> Continued despite knowing the consequences
–> ADHD
–> Mania
Kleptomania
Pyromania
Personality disorder:
- antisocial personality disorder is characterized by high novelty seeking, low harm avoidance and low reward dependence: all three containing elements of impulsive behavior.
• How does impulsivity affect decision making in victims and offenders
- lower working memory capacity –> decreased anticipatory reward delay; failur to maintain focus and inhibit distracting inf.
• How does impulsivity contribute to addiction and violence, and victimization
- less frontal lobe activity or reduced PFC volume
- external cues –> triggers substance use
- addiction might lead to further impulsiity and enhanced substance related cues
- violence use to get substance or primary goods –> maladpative reseponse to get primary good (happiness, community)
- victimization –> not thinking about longt-term conseqzuences, since the urge to respond to an external cue without much forthought; e.g. criminal record, illegal substance abuse, or violence as a means to get to substance
