Social control (20 marker) Flashcards
Define ‘social control’.
Regulating other peoples’ behaviours so that they comply with social norms, attitudes and beliefs
Can be considered a conscious decision by those in power (leaders) to encourage and elicit desirable behaviours
What is positive social control? (3 points)
E.g. Praise and positive reinforcement in schools
Allows human behaviour to be manipulated for the benefit of society
Conformity to avoid social disorder
What is negative social control? (2 points)
E.g. Punishment (Aversion Therapy for homosexuals using drugs like Antabuse)
Manipulates an individual’s free will through criticism and shame to shape their behaviours
What is the essay plan for the implications of social control? (3 points)
Greatest: Marginalised groups in society
Supported by: Milgram
Negative: Yerkes (1911)
Positive: Benefits outweigh costs
Mid: Mental health patients
Supported by/Negative: Rosenhan
Positive: Rosenhan and Raine
Least: Individual behaviours
Supported by: Skinner
Positive: CC and SLT
Negative: Aversion therapy
How are the greatest implications of social control on marginalised groups in society? (2 points)
SC can be unconscious - followed by the individuals with no attention towards it e.g. customs and traditions
Perpetuating harmful stereotypes can result in blind obedience to harm others and discrimination
How does Yerkes (1911) demonstrate negative implications of social control on marginalised groups in society? (5 points)
Perpetuating prevailing stereotypes like the belief that intelligence is inherited has detrimental consequences
Yerkes proposed an intelligence test claiming that black Americans had a lower IQ than white Americans
This was widely accepted at the time and contributed to eugenic validation stemming from Nazi Germany in WW2
This led to the forced sterilisation of over 64,000 ‘unfit’ Americans, including 2,000 poor black women without their consent or knowledge
Demonstrates how SC can negatively impact marginalised groups in society
How do the benefits outweighing the costs demonstrate positive implications of social control on marginalised groups in society? (4 points)
Milgram’s research gave us a better psychological understanding of blind obedience to help prevent future atrocities like mistreatment at Abu Ghraib prison
Loftus & Palmer’s study of how misleading questions affect EWT accuracy supports Bartlett’s theory that memories are actively reconstructed to fit an individual’s schema
The Innocence Project found that 75% of false convictions are caused by inaccurate EWT
This led to courts not relying solely upon EWT and wrongful convictions being overturned like that of Ronald Cotton who lost 10 years of his life in prison
How are mid-level implications of social control on mental health patients? (4 points)
Biological psychology views behaviour as pre-determined
This leads to individuals being labelled as inherently different and invasive treatments being given to socially control them
Historic biological treatments like lobotomy can be seen as a negative form of SC
Today, scientific and technological advancements have led to more ethical treatments which give back control and enable patients to reintegrate into society
How does Rosenhan’s study indicate negative implications of social control on mental health patients? (4 points)
Rosenhan’s (1973) naturalistic covert observation took place at 12 psychiatric hospitals in 5 US East and West Coast
It found that a diagnosis of Sz led to pseudo-patients:
+ Losing their basic rights
+ Being controlled in psychiatric hospitals - unwanted behavioural constraint
Average length of stay = 19 days
2,100 pills were administered
Medication was being used to socially control patients through sedation, dampening socially undesirable behaviours
How do Rosenhan and Raine show positive implications of social control on mental health patients? (5 points)
Although, Rosenhan would argue that his findings helped to positively reform mental health practices
Earlier treatments like lobotomies are now obsolete - medicinal drug therapy like Haloperidol gives patients the autonomy to manage their symptoms whilst reintegrating into society
Raine et al (1997) used PET scans to examine the brain activity of 41 criminals pleading NGRI and 41 non-GRI controls
Findings showed that abnormal brain activity in the prefrontal cortex and amygdala of the brain in NGRI criminals can predispose them to violent and aggressive behaviour
These findings can lead to positive forms of SC like identifying potential criminals through brain scans before they commit a crime
How are the least implications of social control on individual behaviours? (3 points)
The holism debate in psychology suggests that individual behaviours are a result of many factors and not all of these can be socially controlled
Free will - humans being able to have choice in deciding their actions and behaviours
Such ideas can be seen in behaviour shaping in LT - learning through observation and imitation of role models, or association
How does Skinner’s research support the least implications of social control being on individual behaviours? (3 points)
Skinner’s operant conditioning increases desirable behaviours and decreases undesirable behaviour through rewards and punishments
This has led to positive forms of SC for behaviour modification in prison systems, where token economies operate
Prisoners are given tokens like vouchers - they are secondary reinforcers which can be ‘cashed in’ for aprimary reinforcer, like luxuries or privileges
How do classical conditioning and SLT indicate positive implications of social control on individual behaviours? (5 points)
Classical conditioning can be used as a positive form of SC
Advertising or public health campaigns
E.g. extreme imagery of lung disease on cigarette packets causes smokers to associate smoking with lung cancer
Systematic desensitization:
Using relaxation techniques to help treat people with extreme phobias
Furthermore, SLT causes the development of AN - young adolescents copy the disordered eating and exercise routines of their celebrity role models
This has led to social reform through censorship of content on social media platforms, including the banning of size 0 models in fashion magazines
What are the negative implications of social control on individual behaviours? (3 points)
The long-term impact of Token Economy programmes is short-lived - prisoners are not reinforced in the same way once they reintegrate into the real world
Aversion therapy has been used to ‘treat’ socially undesirable behaviours e.g. Antabuse to reduce homosexuality in the 1950s
Psychologists have been criticised for controlling and conditioning people against their will in behaviour patterns they would not necessarily choose - removes free will and autonomy
