Applying Psychology to Real-World Issues - Coursework Example

?Applying Psychology to Real World Issues After World War II, psychology theories were developed to explain the atrocities of the Holocaust. Behavioural psychology made advances in the study of group conditioning. Social psychology was used in experiments after the War Trial. It became part of our lives in the 1990's after the rise of terrorism and hate groups in the UK, Europe and the US. Many theories have been developed which stem from these two branches of psychology. Today's current events: the problems of terrorism and fanatical behaviour are still being studying . This project will discuss the relationship of hate and psychology as they have been applied to past and current events and how they have been applied to the theories that have been developed. The second section will present how these theories present contradictory evidence whether it is a group or an individual. A short evaluation of this research project will conclude this paper with the writer's personal views of what type of psychology is needed in studying hate. Behavioural Psychology is a theory that all behaviours are gained through conditioning: classical & operant. Conditioning occurs through interaction with the environment. Classical conditioning have two elements, the conditioned stimulus and the conditioned response. Operant Conditioning is the association between the behaviour and the consequence for that behaviour. From this conditioning, the learning theory was developed. Negative behaviour can be eliminated by taking away the benefit. A person's behaviour is learned by the consequences which can be external forces. His conscious is changed by the rewards he receives. Adolf Eichmann as seen by a behavioural psychologist would have learned a set of rules and been conditioned to have positive consequences. "When these basic, underlying, human standards (behaviours) are cross culture and are human, there are no longer any societal rules for criticising what is good and what is bad. It was considered normal what was going on in Germany. (Goble 110) Social Psychology is focused on the situation. Eichmann's defence was that he was simply following instructions when he ordered the death of millions of Jews. In his 1974 book Obedience to Authority, Milgram posed the question, "Could it be that Eichmann and his million accomplices in the Holocaust were just following orders? Could we call them all accomplices?" One person in history, one concept of hate is compared to two types of psychology. Social Psychology is focused on the situation. Behavioural Psychology is focused on the consequences of the reward of the individual. Social Psychology - SSM Theory Behavioural Psychology- Learning Theory Social Psychology in simple terms tells how people act, when they are with other people. Group behaviour, conformity, interaction, perception, prejudice and leadership are all taken into account. In 2003, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) finished an eight year study which has become the universal Seven-Stage Hate Model (SHM) The SHM is a predictive tool that tracks hate groups from inception to full maturity. A hate group, if not stopped, passes through seven successive stages. In the first four stages, hate groups vocalize their beliefs and in the last three stages, they act on their beliefs. There is contradictory evidence in the original study and the universal SHM between the distinction of passing from stage 3 to 4 as they are often interchanged. In 2003, the model was presented by the FBI as: 1. The Haters gather 2. The Hate group defines itself 3. The Hate Group disparages the target 4. The Hate Group taunts the target 5. The Hate Group attacks without weapons 6. The Hate Group attacks with weapons 7. The Hate Group destroys the target A transition period exists between verbal violence and acting that violence out. Prior to the groups transition to acting out violence interdiction has the greatest probability of success. The Seven-Stage Hate Model can be used to predict violence before it occurs. Observers can track individuals and groups as they pass through each of the seven stages and develop intervention strategies before violence occurs. This Model is universal and extends to terrorist groups. It explains why people willingly detonate suicide bombs and what motivates people to become terrorists and suicide bombers. Social Psychology and the SHM can predict the level of each group and each individual member to determine the group dynamics and the level of commitment. Social psychology employs scientific methods and factual study of events of society. The individual is part of society. Social psychology is focused on situations. Social psychologists are interested in the impact that social environment and interaction has on attitudes and behaviours Solomon Asch, psychologist, proved through experiments that people conform to their social structures. Conformity is defined as following the "unspoken" rules or behaviours of a social group. Stage 4 of the Hate Model is an example. He conducted a series of experiments designed to demonstrate the power of conformity in groups. He defined that if there was one student, there would be no impact on the groups conformity; If there were three confederates, the group would answer towards the three confederates. Group response was important. If there were more than three confederates in the group the group would not be influenced. The manipulative power of governments has to have more than one member to be successful. Human nature has a need to fit in for positive and negative reasons. Asch's research shows a pull towards those who are stronger, smarter and more religious. In real life, it is difficult to draw the lines between those who are conforming out of desire or necessity because avoiding conflict is also a sign of conformity.(Asch 1956) Multiple Experiments in addition to Milgram's have been conducted to research levels of obedience. A level of obedience can be explained even in sadistical acts if there is a figure of authority who is competent and can be relied upon. If the leader can be trusted, then his requests must be acceptable. "Ordinary people, simply doing their jobs, and without any particular hostility on their part, can become agents in a terrible destructive process. Moreover, even when the destructive effects of their work become patently clear, and they are asked to carry out actions incompatible with fundamental standards of morality, relatively few people have the resources needed to resist authority" (Milgram, 1974). The danger of obedience can be argued as being behavioural rather than situational. It depends if it is being treated as a one on one relationship. Terrorism is an act in current events that is part of our day to day lives. This level of Hate can be illustrated in the danger of obedience, the Seven Stages of Hate Module and the Conformity Theory which are parts of social psychology theories Angry adolescent children acting out their frustrations can be helped with one on one therapy before they are forced to put themselves into a situational environment as explained above. In conclusion, Hate can be broken apart into several different theories of social psychology. These theories help in determining the social degree in which acts of terrorism, hate or violence are being prepared. Depending on the different stages, actions can be taken to stop further aggression. Many of these theories were developed after studying extensively World War II and the Skin Heads in the US (FBI 2003). There is some contradictory evidence that Eichmann acts could not be explained through behavioural psychology. It is the writer's personal opinion that it has been better explained through social psychology though in context there is some classical conditioning. References 7 Stages of Hate Module http://www.rickross.com/reference/hate_groups/hategroups355.html Goble, F The Third Force, the Psychology of Abraham Maslow Milgram (1974) Obedience to Authority . Asch, S. E. (1956). Studies of independence and conformity: A minority of one against a unanimous majority. Psychological Monographs, 70. Bandura, Albert (1973). Aggression: A social learning analysis. NJ: Prentice Hall. Read More