Stress as a Social Construct - Coursework Example

Stress is a Social Construct. Discuss Stress is synonymous with slow poisoning. The people who undergo stressful regimes understand that this will play havoc with their lives sooner rather than later. It is a fact that stress has been seen as an epidemic the world over. The researchers are undertakings studies and doing serious discussions to find out how to cope with stress and its related forms. However to this day, not a single solution has been presented which could wipe away the ramifications of stress, anxiety and depression. In essence all these three ailments are more or less comprised under the umbrella of stress to start with. What stress does to the psyche of man is something to gain comprehension from. This has put the different manifestations of mankind under quite a lot of worry since criminal issues have come to the fore due to stress and its different predicaments. This paper will outline the ways and means through which stress could be seen from a psychological perspective and under the auspices of the criminological fields. Research within the related domains of psychology has revealed that stress causes quite a number of problems for the people who are in authority positions. These people seem to experience stress when they are denied their due rights by the people who are senior to them or have more commanding dignity than them. Then there are other issues within these positions like gender harassment, inequality in wages, non-payment of dues, denial of leaves, etc which makes them feel even more stressed than they were before. Thus it would not be wrong to suggest that stress is one such tangent that negatively reinforces one’s energy levels to do something wrong or one that is ethically unacceptable. Having said that criminology takes its basis from similar settings of stress, and therefore the fact that criminology has been highlighted as a significant aspect in the studies related with psychology of stress and anxiety has all the more bearing on the subject at hand. Stress makes the workers feel disjointed from their work regimes; they lack the alertness when it comes to their respective performance levels and have an overall feel of dizziness and boredom on the job (Desmond 2001). They want to do something different but the daily grind of work starts to take its toll on their bodies. The fact that they are not given the room to exploit their true strengths and just concentrate upon getting the job at hand done for the sake of meeting the deadlines, makes them feel itchy and irritated. Thus stress starts triggering them for all the wrong reasons and therefore they feel they need to do something different which could have more attention on their part. When they are vehemently denied their right to experiment what they essentially want to do, they show their displeasure and this doubles up their negative sentiments which they have developed over a period of time, against the norms and procedures that have been followed of late. Stress becomes a social construct when the society pays a great deal of attention on the ailments that people have with regards to their respective lives. Stress is one such anomaly that mars the very basis of peace and sanity within one’s life. It aims to offer the person a shortcut; however it is filled with potholes left, right and center. The society has a very direct bearing on the way people perceive the world around them. They tend to think of things in a fashion which is close to their own agendas – their likes and dislikes (Carayon 1999). If they falter within the attaining process of the same, they feel that their egos have hit a new low and hence stress-related issues crop in. If they feel they have been given more than they were looking for, they expect much more to come their way in the future. In essence, there seems to be no stopping on this count whatsoever. Thus the reason that stress is seen as an epidemic because it essentially leaves the mind to wander in different directions, without having a logical base for its own self. Criminological research states that those individuals who witness events pass by within their lives slowly have similar stressful regimes as compared to individuals who have quick changes within their lives. The latter is comprised of people who do not have the time to reflect upon their lives and thus ponder deep into what they will be doing next (Wright 1998). The psychological issues that hamper the smooth sailing of individuals with regards to their lives are immensely torn. These seem to put problems in different contextual settings and thus haunt the very basis of their lives time and again. It would be justifiable to suggest that stress is an ailment which seems to exponentially increase over man’s different body parts, and thus create further issues of significance for his mind and his body. Within the fields of criminology, studies have revealed that stress proves to be a fatal agent. This is because criminological research has shown that psychology has had a direct and enduring effect on the lives of the people. They seem to undergo all forms of stressful measures and regimes and thus hurt their own selves in more ways than one. What needs to be understood is the fact that stress is first and foremost a mind game. If the person affected by stress does not take it in the first place, there is no way he will get influenced by its consequences in the times to come. The best way to keep away stress is not to take it at all. However criminological thoughts bank on the premise of doing things that matter most to the minds of the people and for the achievement of the same tasks, they do not worry even if they have to enter the illegal domains (Neyhouse 2002). They think of the alternatives and when they find out that they need to play a fast one on the authorities and with the law of the land, they actually go about doing the very same. There is evidence in the fact that criminals take stress due to a number of different reasons. They at times want to give vent to their feelings and thus indulge in all forms of criminological activities. On different occasions, some of them want to take revenge from certain sets of people and therefore commit activities which are unbecoming of people like them. It has been studied from a psychological perspective that even the educated fraternity has certain individuals who give into the pressure of stress and thus undertake measures which can only be regarded as criminal by intent. They seem to be least concerned with their reputation at stake and how the society would hold of them and in what kind of stead they will be judged before taking a decision upon their respective personalities (Shoham 2001). The fact that the society has a huge role in the make-up or break-down of a person’s relevance with it, though even in a minimalist fashion, puts a great deal of pressure for the individual to get his work done in a comprehensive way. He needs to be head on with his tasks and undertakings and thus represent his true side through his work ethos and the strengths that he possesses within his folds. However what is most important to comprehend here is the fact that stress can come out as a destructive influence within his life and thus thwart the process of growth and development as far as his personality building measures are concerned. This puts him a step back as far as his respective growth mechanisms are concerned. It is a great pity that such measures destruct the very basis of development that had earlier taken place. Stress puts the very person within a social quandary – he seems to be in a fix as to what he can do to restore confidence within his abilities and how to make best use of his skills and abilities to have peace and tranquility within his life (Plummer 2004). At other times, he gets worried on even the most trivial of issues, like his pessimist attitude which just does not change at all. He can also have attitudinal problems on a consistent basis which will eventually put his work related tasks at a risk. He might not deliver, as is expected by his workplace. This would mean that he receives warnings and the ultimate bane of dismissal from work, which hurts the individual more than anything else. Just the fact that an individual has been fired from his job is such a huge mark on his personality that he usually cannot understand the stressful regimes which will haunt him for a long period of time (Weatherburn 2006). The attached repercussions of society boycotting him all the same leaves a very negative impression on his mind and he eventually resorts to some form of criminological activity which will provide him ease, without taking into consideration that the same act will mean usurping someone else’s rights as well as hurting them in essence. The role of society in allowing a person to remain as a free individual within its folds has an immense significance in the related scheme of things. If the society takes over the basic rights of the people when they are under some form of stress and trauma, it is difficult to analyze how these people will react once they take power into their hands. Some of them would remain wise enough and think of this as just another phase in their lives while others would resort to violence, perform criminal activities and even kill down people who they believe are the actual instigators behind their stressful regimes. The role of a basic ideology to tackle stress somehow or the other seems amiss here. This is because stress does not allow one to properly analyze the repercussions which could be had once a person undertakes certain measures which are against his normal self. He thinks about the effects that he solely will have once he undergoes a criminal activity. He believes he can take revenge from a certain someone and thus vent his feelings in a much better way than the other person did when he was in trouble (Hollin 1989). However what the society implicates by such a process is nothing short of disaster. The people become confined to their homes and they stop trusting individuals within the society. There is lawlessness prevalent within the reigns of the society and governmental machinery becomes unsuccessful when it comes to proper implementation of the same within the domains of the state or the society that one speaks of. In the end, it would be proper to suggest that stress comes about when taken by an individual in his own right and defense. If he considers stress to be just another ailment then he can be assured that stress will not limit his mobility and timely completion of work tasks. However if he is of the view that he needs to hold someone else responsible for his stressful regimes, then perhaps he has had a criminological intent of late and needs to correct his attitude more than anything else. Research studies have time and again pinpointed the fact that criminology is a direct result of certain stressing ways that people adopt. These can also come about when they are not being looked after well by the state or the society of which they are the inhabitants (Crampton 1995). A vision to understand what is deemed as right and appropriate from a personal setting is indeed the order of the day. Individuals must focus upon settings things right within their respective domains. They must not allow criminological regimes to creep in for all the wrong reasons, within their folds (Toby 1999). All said and done, stress is a killer but it remains to be seen how people perceive of this killer and what steps they undertake in order to keep away from the pitfalls that come attached with stress. References Carayon, P. (1999). Work Organization, Job Stress, and Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders. Human Factors, Vol. 41 Crampton, S. (1995). Stress and Stress Management. SAM Advanced Management Journal, Vol. 60 Desmond, P. (2001). Stress, Workload, and Fatigue. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Hollin, C. (1989). Psychology and Crime: An Introduction to Criminological Psychology. Routledge Neyhouse, T. (2002). Positivism in Criminological Thought: A Study in the History and Use of Ideas. LFB Scholarly Publishing Plummer, K. (2004). Criminology: A Sociological Introduction. Routledge Shoham, S. (2001). Micro-Macro Criminology. International Journal of Comparative Sociology Toby, J. (1999). Obsessive Compulsion. National Review, Vol. 51, June 28 Weatherburn, D. (2006). What Mediates the Macro-Level Effects of Economic and Social Stress on Crime? Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology, Vol. 39 Wright, R. (1998). Evaluating Criminology and Criminal Justice. Greenwood Press Word Count: 2,024 Read More