Psychological ondition - Essay Example

? Essay on Psychological Condition Essay on Psychological Condition Behavior refers to the way in which an organism acts or responds to its surroundings. These surroundings involve other organisms plus the environment it lives in. Behavior can either be inborn or learnt from others. Behavior can also be positive or negative: positive in that it is acceptable while the latter is the unwanted or the undesired. According to me behavior is changeable. This is so because changes in the environment lead to change in behavior and change in one’s environment is inevitable. Change in behavior can also be positive or negative and many psychological theories have come up to explain the behavioral changes. According to the Learning theory, behavior is acquired and sustained depending on the consequences, for example, reward. These consequences may be external: one is rewarded for his good behavior, for instance, in terms of gifts, applause or promotions. People who behave negatively observe and emulate those who do well in order to receive the rewards (Skinner, 2001, p. 50). Individuals can also respond to their own behavior in that, if they not rewarded, they realize that their behavior is wanting and probably opts to change. In cases of undesired behavior the reward can then be withdrawn prompting immediate change to acceptable behavior to reacquire the reward. In this theory, (Eysenck, 2003, p.38) compared behavior change with the models of behaviorism: Classical conditioning, Operant conditioning and Modeling. Classical conditioning refers to matching a stimulus with a consistent behavior or response. For instance, in a school environment, the ringing of the bell to students means end of a lesson and start of another, therefore any time a bell rings be it in the middle of another lesson students will start preparing for another lesson. Another example is seen in a case where a child is consistently punished, he develops fear whenever he comes close misbehaving for fear of another punishment hence change in behavior. Self efficacy is another theory that explains behaviour change. One’s self evaluation affects their intended behavior. An individual is able to judge his ability to do a given task by reviewing their previous performances in similar tasks (Skinner, 2001, p. 76). For example, if one had failed a previous exam he will develop fear towards an approaching exam hence lead to related behavior such as running away from school or faking sickness. In relation to the Social Cognitive theory, one’s thoughts affect their behavior. This explains why people harboring negative thoughts will end up behaving negatively (Eysenck, 2003, p.49). For example, students with negative attitudes towards given subjects will fail the subjects. It further explains that there is a relationship between environment and behavior in that, a change in one affects the other, for example, if one peer start behaving negatively, the individuals will possibly behave undesirably too. The Reasoned Action theory states that people think of the repercussions before acting. Icek Ajzen says that one’s understanding of behavior is good or bad depending on societal norms will help them choose on how to behave. For example, if a society recommends that all rapists be ex-communicated then one will think of the consequences and choose to reject or proceed with the behavior. Behavior change can be individual oriented or instilled. If individuals are not willing to change through positive causes such as rewards and imitation, then there are other negative reinforcements such as punishment that can initiate change in behavior. Punishment can be inflicted by parents, teachers or the law. Laws demand that all criminals be punished through imprisonment or court fines. Those who are imprisoned go through rehabilitation program to help them change. Rehabilitation centers’ works on information provided by specialists and use it to help individuals change, such psychologists include forensic psychologists. Forensic psychologists research and provide information on the problem behavior and give possible recommendations. Individuals are then trained through the rehabilitation programs. The forensic psychologists help in developing healing programs and set to replace the problem behaviors with desired behavior. They investigate on the past behaviors of an individual and predict future possible behaviors after the program. They also carry out research on the probability of repetition of the problem behavior after being released from prison and thus advice prison officers. It is often said that change is inevitable. Anyone including prisoners can be trained into becoming better citizens in the society. Rehabilitation programs in prisons educate prisoners on the importance of positive behavior. Prisoners are trained in various aspects of life and given the confidence to face life and forget their dark pasts. There are several rehabilitation programs offered to prisoners. First and foremost, there’s the educational rehabilitation program. In this program, prisoners are trained in similar courses as those offered in learning institutions thus enabling them acquire skills that help them get employment once outside prison offering them a better future afterwards. At the end of the training, they are given certificates and recommendation letters reflecting change in behavior despite their bad past. This program accelerates behavior change in that if one committed a crime like stealing in order to earn a living, they will find no more need in doing so again if they can legally and comfortably earn a living by working. The Educational Rehabilitation program can either be effective or not, some prisoners acquire the skills, master them and once they get out they choose to use them. For example, they go out in search of jobs, get employment and forget their past. Sometimes employers and other employees might not be welcoming but they forge ahead and focus on their behavior change. On the other hand, lack of consistent follow ups by prison officers may result to some ex-convicts giving up their desire to change. This happens due to high competition in the job markets where jobs are not readily available or employers simply fear having ex-convicts as workers resulting to the convicts going back to their old ways. Secondly, we have the Religious prison rehabilitation program. The program involves the teaching of religious beliefs and other virtues. Prisoners are taught to change, give their souls to Christ, who is the Forgiver o f all evils and forget their sinful pasts. The prisoners are also taught other virtues like relating well to other members of the society and to hoe confidently face the society after release, forgive themselves and live on normally. They receive tips on fighting guilt and shame which might hinder positive change in behavior. The program can also be a success or a flop. Some ex-convicts receive the teachings, decide to change and forget their bad pasts therefore changing their course of life completely. Others only pretend so as to get their gate-pas to the society and end up recommitting the same crimes. Prison rehabilitation program therefore fail due to lack of follow up. Once a prisoner is released, prison offers give no interest in what they do thereafter. The society in most cases become a let down to this programs in that it becomes so hard for people to accept the ex-convict as reformed individuals hence discouraging them. Statistics has it that 70 percent of the convicts go back to prison after a few years. When rehabilitation programs are provided to individuals not likely to recommit the crimes after release, it results to a three percent reduction in crimes being recommitted. On the other hand, providing rehabilitation programs to individuals most likely to recommit their crimes result to a great improvement of up to 10 percent reduction in recommitting. From the programs discussed, I give the following recommendations: First, apart from focusing on training the prisoners towards positive behavior change, rehabilitation programs should also consider mobilizing the society at large. Masses should accept the ex-convicts as reformed individuals in the society avoid pointing at them instead help them live positively. Secondly, Prison officers should organize follow up programs to help them acquire information on the effectiveness of their rehabilitation programs. Such programs can include finding job vacancies and connecting the ex-convicts to the available jobs. They can also have research programs carried out in the society to ensure that the ex-convicts practice the acquired behavior and skills. Incase they find out that there are deviations in behavior then the ex-convicts should be taken back for more training. Lastly, prisoners should be given a chance to use the acquired skills for sometime before being certified and released. Prison should therefore have varied workshops to facilitate this. This is vital in discovering those pretending just to be released. In conclusion, behavior change is as a result of the environmental changes hence, since environmental changes are inevitable behavior change is as well inevitable. Rehabilitation programs and other facilitators of behavior change should therefore be encouraged to ensure peaceful co-existence among people in the society. References Eysenck, H.J. (2003). Crime and Personality. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. Freud, S. (2000).The Complete works of Sigmund Freud. (Vol.19). London: Hogarth. Skinner, B.F. (2001). Contingencies of Reinforcements: A theoretical Analysis. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts Read More