Lesson 2: Emotions and Criminal Behaviour
Lesson Review
This lesson provided some interesting perspectives on the roles we perform. Groups have many special characteristics that influence the attitudes and behaviours of people who work together.
|
To summarize: • Aggression is one emotion that exerts a powerful influence. • Somewhat related to aggression is assertiveness, which means resolving problems from a win-win position. • Some people believe in the theory that aggression is inherited as one of our instincts for survival; others believe that aggression is a learned behaviour and is sparked by frustrating elements in our environment. • A highly condemned form of aggression in our society is child abuse. Child abusers were often abused themselves as children. Child abuse can become a vicious circle. • Everyone meets difficult people at some time. Concentrate on solving the problem and listen to the concerns of your adversary for some insights into how to work through the situation. • To deal effectively with anger, admit anger, and take time to reflect on your reasons for responding in that way. • Frustration means we meet a roadblock while working toward our goals. • Conflicting situations may be • Dr. Hans Selye is a Canadian who is an expert on stress. He states that some amount of stress is healthy; uncontrolled stress is not healthy. • A direct link between emotions and illness has been established. • Death is a natural part of our existence. Young children should be helped to face death because eventually they will contact it through the death of pets, grandparents, or other family members. • Suicide is a particularly sensitive situation. For people contemplating suicide, a strong network of support is comforting. Helping the bereaved deal with the suicide of someone close takes special skills. • Defense mechanisms protect a person’s self-esteem when it comes under threat. • Defense mechanisms include repression, suppression, compensation, overcompensation, sublimation, projection, introjection, identification, reaction formation, procrastination, displaced aggression, rationalization, and regression. • Many useful tips are available to help us deal with stress and pressures. A person must look after physical health, watch for ways to encourage mental health by having a good attitude, and look for ways to introduce positive emotional control. • Pets are very important for one’s physical and mental health. • In many special cases, pets have shown they have tremendous therapeutic value for the ill, the dependent, and the disturbed individual. • Touch is one of the very positive emotional connections we establish with others. • The general public perceives that violence and crime are escalating at unbelievable rates. The truth is that some crime is gradually increasing, but statistics indicate that fairly stable levels are shown for some offenses. • Victims of crimes face many physical injuries as well as a number of psychological torments that range from feelings of violation to overwhelming thoughts of fear and insecurity. • Unfortunately, a large number of families experience violence in the home in some form or another. Before marriage, people should look for signs of potential abuse in their mates. • The media reports many incidents of violence all the time. The violence a person is exposed to on TV can have a tremendous impact on their attitudes and behaviour regarding violence. • Many schools and communities have accepted a Zero Tolerance Policy for acts of aggression and violence from young people. • The Young Offenders’ Act passed in 1984 and the Youth Criminal Justice Act passed in 2002 deal with young people between 12 and 18 years of age. It advocates shorter prison terms for youth crime, and protects the identity of these young people. • Kleptomaniacs have an uncontrolled urge to steal items. Sometimes their actions are based on sexual excitement; sometimes they are motivated by revenge against authority figures. • Pyromania or the urge to set fires is caused by rebellion against authority, destructive urges, and the quest for sexual excitement. • The psychopath may seem charming, yet their dangerous qualities include habitual liars, self-centred, impulsive, and emotionally callous. • Psychopaths are people with no conscience (superego). Therefore, they have no moral principles in their relationships with others. • The psychopathic personality may develop because of poor socialization in early childhood or alienation from close bonds with the parents. Some psychologists believe that psychopaths are born, not raised to be that way. • Sexual assault is the sexual control and violation of someone against his or her will. The rapist seeks to express anger, rage, and dominance. • Cults are groups that recruit and control people based on the perspective of the cult, which could be based on religion, politics, self-discovery, or marketing motives. |