Understanding Violence: A Historical and Conceptual Analysis
Violence: A Historical and Conceptual Overview
Violence has been a part of history since the earliest recorded times, as exemplified by the biblical story of Cain and Abel.
Historical Periods of Violence (Guthman, 1991)
- Up to Medieval Times: Violence lacked a negative connotation.
- Medieval Period: Violence was viewed negatively, seen as corrupting purity and harmony with God, a sin against the Church, and a violation of feudal order.
- Renaissance: Violence became instrumental, used as a means of acquiring
Mental Disorders: Psychosis and Neurosis
Mental Health and Mental Disorders
Mental health is defined as full mental and social well-being. Other authors have defined it as the ability to have a job, a family, not having trouble with the law, and enjoying the leisure opportunities of life.
Conversely, a mental disorder is the loss of psychosocial well-being, coupled with a deterioration in the workplace or academic (school, college) environment and changes in usual social activities or life in relationship with others (family, friends).
In
Read MorePsychological Testing: Standardization and Reliability
Psychology
Standardization
Standardization: a rule or process of applying a test to a representative sample of respondents for the purpose of setting standards.
- A standardized test has well-defined procedures for clear administration.
- It must have control, and your score includes normative data.
Reliability
Reliability determines the usefulness of the instrument as a measuring tool.
It is the consistency of scores obtained by the same person when retested with the same test at different times or with different
Read MoreLorenz and Harlow: Animal Studies on Attachment
Lorenz (1952)
Lorenz’s research suggests that organisms have a biological propensity to form attachments to a single subject.
Lorenz conducted an experiment in which goslings were hatched either with their mother or in an incubator. Once the goslings had hatched, they proceeded to follow the first moving object that they saw between 13 and 16 hours after hatching; in this case, Lorenz.
It supports the view that having a biological basis for an attachment is adaptive as it promotes survival.
This would
Read MoreUnderstanding Key Concepts in Freudian Psychology
The Unconscious
The unconscious is a part of the psychic apparatus, included in the first topography. It contains desires, instincts, and memories denied access to consciousness. Its content primarily represents drives.
The Id
The id is one of the three instances described by Freud in his second topography. It represents the instinctual pole of personality, with unconscious contents. The pleasure principle guides its activity, and primary processes dominate it.
The Setting (Fixation)
Fixation involves
Read MoreResearch Fundamentals: Questions, Instruments, and Frameworks
Research Fundamentals
Problem: A question being asked about reality.
Instrument: A mechanism that allows us to obtain information.
Indicator: Survey questions.
Variables: Choices within a question in the survey.
Tab: The process by which information is extracted from our research tool.
Matrix of Research: Where information is deposited.
Hypothesis: A tentative answer to a question. Variables are drawn, including behavior problems, causal variables, and behavior.
Problems guide our investigation. These are
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