Exploring the Possible Relationship between Tattoos and Maladaptive Behavior - Research Paper Example

Exploring the Possible Relationship between Tattoos and Maladaptive Behavior Short Introduction Commonly used in the study of psychology, psychopathology examines the main cause of mental illness, mental distress, or maladaptive behavior. Since there are different group of professionals who study mental illness, psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, and neuroscientist who aims to determine the causes of mental illness can be referred to as psychopathologist. Research Statement “Exploring the Possible Relationship between Tattoos and Maladaptive Behavior” Summary of Presentation Material Art portrait can be used in the study of mental illness or maladaptive behavior. After studying the life and history of 291 world’s famous men, Post revealed that minor ‘neurotic’ abnormalities were common among the famous artists and writers making them more prone to depression and alcoholism (Post, 1994). Confirmed in the study of Nelson and Rawlings (2010), there is a strong relationship between psychopathological and creativity in the sense that artists were found to have “positive” schizotypy, unipolar affective disturbance, thin boundaries, and personality dimensions of Openness to Experience and Neuroticism. There are quite a lot of research studies suggesting that the presence of a body tattoo is one of the most common indicators wherein a person is at risk of taking negative behaviors like violence, drug abuse, sexual behavior, and suicide (Carroll et al., 2002). In fact, body tattoos are commonly associated with the criminals and individuals who are anti-social, sadistic, negativistic, and borderline (Rozycki Lozano et al., 2010; Manuel & Retzlaff, 2002). Based on the research findings of Kidd (2009), there are a lot of homeless youth who ends up being an artist since drawing enables them to express their negative emotions. In relation to the study of Nelson and Rawlings and Post (Nelson and Rawlings; Post), a literature review will be conducted to examine whether or not being an artist is a natural talent or just a consequence of their personal values, upbringing, environmental surroundings, politics, or a negative experience in life. Gathering literature regarding few of my favorite tattoo artists from the 18th, 19th, and 20th century including Jack Armstrong, Abey Alvarez, Darryl Gates, Jesse Varela, and Eric Iovino among others as well as those individuals whose work is related to the focus of my study will help us better understand the artists’ state of mind. Today, body tattoos are considered as a modern form of self-portrait. Staring at the photos of my friends and family members with tattoos on their body parts, I became curious about the possible link between the culture of tattoos and maladaptive behavior. As part of this study, I intend to determine whether or not there is a strong connection between the past and present emotions or mood swings of individuals with body tattoos and the images of their preferred tattoo. In line with this, the reasons behind their decision to have a body tattoo will be gathered through a one-on-one interview with randomly selected research participants. Several past and current studies confirm that there is a strong link between artwork with mental illness such as fantasy, “positive” schizotypy, unipolar affective disturbance, and depression among others (Nelson & Rawlings, 2010; Blum, 2009; Post, 1994). However, the study of O'brien suggests that the use of artwork is not sufficient when interpreting the nature of a patient’s childhood due to a long list of factors that could influence a person’s taste for art (O'brien, 2003). With the use of several psycho theories related to Sigmund Freud’s structural model of psyche, this study will examine whether the subconscious mind has something to do with people’s decision to have a body tattoo. Proposed Methodology Proposed Research Design As part of examining whether or not there is a possible link between the use of body tattoos and maladaptive behavior, the proposed primary research methodology for this study will utilize a semi-structured research interview. Basically, a semi-structured questionnaire will be use as a guide when conducting the interview to randomly selected interviewees. Strategic questioning is highly correlated to the accuracy and validity of the research interview results in the sense that the data that will be collected throughout the research interview process should be appropriate to the research questions and purpose of the study. For this reason, it is important to carefully prepare the kind of questions to be asked to each selected interviewee. To achieve a good quality research survey questionnaire, the researcher should have a good understanding and analysis of the main purpose of the study. To avoid heading into a wrong direction, Keith Richard explained that understanding the research process is important when a researcher has chosen to adopt a qualitative research study (Richards, 2006). As soon as the researcher is finished writing a list of interview questions, the researcher will have to go through the research interview questions again to identify specific questions that need to be refined. There is absolutely no limitation as to how a semi-structured interview should be conducted. The interview process heavily relies on the researcher’s personal judgment rather than a “context- and content-free rules of method” since the personal dimension1 of the interviewer is the central to qualitative research (Richards, 2006; Kvale, 1996). As part of conducting the secondary research study, related journals, book, reports, and electronic materials will be consulted to enable the researcher have an access to useful and updated information concerning the proposed research topic. Since there is no available academic journal that specifically correlate any possible mental illness with the works of the tattoo artists, the researcher will personally identify and analyze the factors2 that could have contributed to each of the chosen artist’s work of art. On top of going through the family background and childhood experience of each selected tattoo artist, the researcher will combine and analyze the factors may have significantly influenced the preferences of each artist together with the gathered peer-reviewed academic journals. To minimize the risk of bias judgment, the interview results will be analyzed together with the gathered secondary research. In line with this, comparing and analyzing the factors that may contribute to the development of maladaptive behavior will provide the researcher with a better understanding of the research topic. Site Setting, Population and Sample Size A total of 15 research interviewees will be randomly selected for this study. Regardless of age and gender, the qualified research interview respondents are those individuals who have body tattoo. Individuals who do not meet the said requirements will be automatically be excluded in the research sample. To increase the chances of locating the qualified research interviewees, the site setting for the proposed primary research study will be at a tattoo parlor located close to where I live. Choosing a tattoo parlor near my place will minimize the total expected cost of doing research due to transportation. Research Ethics Prior to conducting the research study, it is but ethical to obtain permission or seek the approval of the target research interviewee. Likewise, it is equally important for the researcher to clearly explain the main purpose of this study to selected interviewees. As a standard operating procedure, it is unethical to force or threat any person to participate in this study without the voluntary agreement with the target research interviewees. In case one of the selected interviewees decided to withdraw from the study, the researcher should grant the research respondent’s wish without further questions asked. In line with this, the researcher should make his / her personal contact information available to interviewees. Doing so will enable them to contact the researcher when necessary. As a sign of respect to the research participants’ privacy and personal rights, the researcher should at anytime keep the research interviewee’s identity confidential. Keeping the research participants’ identity confidential can be done by eliminating all personal information from the official research study report. When conducting a research study, the researcher should keep in mind that a strategic questioning is highly correlated to the accuracy and validity of the research interview results. Data that will be collected through an interview process should always be related to the research question and main purpose of the proposed research study. Therefore, it is necessary for the researcher to be meticulous when preparing the type of questions to be asked with the interviewee and research respondents. List of Key Tattoo Artists and Key Works of Art Used in Analyzing the Dissertation 1. Jack Armstrong is one of the oldest and most famous tattoo artists in the world (Tattoo Bio, 2010). The first tattoo he made for himself was done at the early age of 7 years old. (See Appendix I – All About Jack on page 9) 2. Abey Alvarez is a talented tattoo artist who is currently working out of Low Rider Tattoo in Costa Mesa California. The work of Abey focuses on tattooing faces and images of people (Alvarez, 2010). (See Appendix II – Works of Abey Alvarez on page 10) 3. Darryl Gates is a tattoo artist, owner and manager of the Diamond Jacks (Britannica, 2008). Most of his works uses bright red color aside from mostly skull. As a well-known tattoo artist, Darryl Gates was invited to do the tattoo painting on Cameron Diaz’s arms for V magazine (See Appendix III – Works of Darryl Gates on page 11) 4. Jesse Varela started his profession as a tattoo artist at One Eyed Jack Armstrong under apprenticeship. Inspired by classical art and artist including comic book artist like Stan Lee and Todd McFarlane, the work of Jesse limits the use of bright color inks when doing body tattoo (Ink Dragon, 2010). (See Appendix IV – Works of Jesse Varela on page 12) 5. Eric Iovino is also known in the tattoo industry. Over the past 10 years, his works has been sold worldwide as temporary tattoos, stickers, car decals, and prints on t-shirts (Bullseye Tattoos, 2010). (See Appendix V – Works of Eric Iovino on page 13) *** End *** Appendix I – All About Jack Armstrong One of the most famous sketches by Jack Armstrong Source: Webspawner Jack’s Back Source: Jo Appendix II – Works of Abey Alvarez Source: Alvarez Appendix III – Works of Darryl Gates Source: Diamond Jacks Appendix IV – Works of Jesse Varela Source: Ink Dragon Appendix V – Works of Eric Iovino Source: Bullseye Tattoos References Alvarez, Abey. "Abey." 2010. Official Website. 30 May 2010 . Blum, H.P. "Van Gogh’s Fantasies of Replacement: Being a Double and a Twin." Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association (2009): 57(6), 1311-1326. "Britannica." November 2008. How Does He Manage? Tattooist. 30 May 2010 . "Bullseye Tattoos." 2010. Eric Iovino. 30 May 2010 . Carroll, S.T., et al. "Tattoos and Body Piercings as Indicators of Adolescent Risk-Taking Behaviors." Pediatrics (2002): 109(6), 1021-1027. "Diamond Jacks." 2010. Tattoos. 30 May 2010 . "Ink Dragon." 2010. Jesse Varela. 30 May 2010 . Jo, Patti. 2010. Jack Armstrong's Back: 17 Portraits by Patti Jo. 30 May 2010 . Kidd, S.A. "A Lot of Us Look at Life Differently": Homeless Youths and Art on the Outside." Cultural Studies Critical Methodologies (2009): 9(2), 345-367. Kvale, S. "Interviews: An Introdction to Qualitative Research Interviewing. in Richards, K. (Eds) 'Quality in Qualitative Research.” Keith Richards IATEFL Research Sig Newsletter August 2006: Issue 18. pp. 1 - 4." (1996). Manuel, L. and P.D. Retzlaff. "Psychopathology and Tattooing among Prisoners." International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology (2002): 46(5), 522-531. Nelson, B. and D. Rawlings. "Relating Schizotypy and Personality to the Phenomenology of Creativity." Schizophrenia Bulletin (2010): 36(2):388-399; doi:10.1093/schbul/sbn098 . O'brien, C. "The Nature of Childhood through History Revealed in Artworks?" Childhood (2003): 10(3), 362-378. Post, F. "Creativity and psychopathology. A study of 291 world-famous men." The British Journal of Psychiatry (1994): 165, 22-34. Richards, Keith. "Quality in Qualitative Research." Keith Richards IATEFL Research Sig Newsletter (2006): Issue 18, pp. 1 - 4. Rozycki Lozano, A.T., et al. "Prison Tattoos as a Reflection of the Criminal Lifestyle." International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology (2010). Schildkraut, J.J., A.J. Hirshfeld AJ and J.M. Murphy. "Mind and mood in modern art, II: depressive disorders, spirituality, and early deaths in the abstract expressionist artists of the New York School." American Journal of Psychiatry (1994): 151:482–488. "Tattoo Bio." 2010. Jack Armstrong. 30 May 2010 . "Webspawner." 2010. Famous Sketch of Jack.. 30 May 2010 . Read More