Foundations and Schools of Thought in Psychology
General Psychology
General psychology studies mental processes and conduct in the normal individual. Key historical perspectives include:
- Rationalism (Mentalism): Descartes proposed a duality of mind and body (res cogitans and res extensa) and introduced the concept of reflex. Leibniz posited that monads, through pre-established harmony, reflect individual behavior. He also differentiated between conscious, unconscious, and perception.
- Empiricism (Behaviorism): Emphasized the role of senses over innate
Juvenile Delinquency: Legal Proceedings and Characteristics
Writing
This causes delays, and trials result. It plays like a vicious circle; this delay makes it very difficult to locate witnesses, and once located, they may not remember with any degree of detail and accuracy the data to be obtained by the prosecution and the defense.
Reforms that would help streamline the functioning of the administration of justice and have a greater and better impact on crime control:
- Modernization of the functioning of judicial offices. This would be adapted to the management
Observational Learning in Children: Bandura’s Bobo Doll Study
Bandura’s Bobo Doll Experiment
Aim
To investigate whether a child would learn aggression by observing a model and whether they would reproduce this behavior in the absence of the model, and whether the sex of the model was important.
Participants
A laboratory experiment with matched pairs was used. The participants were 72 children aged 3-6 years (36 boys and 36 girls) from the Stanford University Nursery School.
Procedure
Participants were deliberately mildly annoyed by being shown a room to play with
Read MoreMastering In-Depth Interviews: Techniques and Best Practices
Scripting the In-Depth Interview
Although many authors argue against a rigid script in in-depth interviews, having a structured framework can help maintain control of the process. This is especially true when multiple interviewers from the same research team are involved. A well-crafted script ensures that all essential aspects of the research topic are covered, even if the order varies based on the interviewee’s responses.
The interview script should include key topics and questions relevant to the
Read MoreUnderstanding Criminal Behavior: Stress, Association, and Risk
Sources of Stress and its Connection to Criminality
For Merton and the theory of subcultures, a source of tension is the discrepancy between the social objectives that should be sought and the means to achieve them. Agnew, however, identifies three sources:
- Inability to achieve positive social goals: Aspirations vs. actual achievements; Expected rewards vs. real results.
- Deprivation of perks that one has or expects to possess.
- Inevitable negative situations.
This theory states that stress can lead to
Read MoreQualitative Interviews in Social Work: Techniques & Applications
Oral History in Social Work
Although it differs in its aim towards another type of open qualitative interview, it is methodologically very similar. For this reason, we have included it as a type of interview that can be of great interest to the social worker to better contextualize the emergencies experienced by people who require their assistance. The narration can be recorded or, alternatively (in case of rejection by the interviewee), listened to, and log entries can be made. It can range in duration
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