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Asses social control issues in psychology (20 Marks)
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PAPER 3: Issues and Debates - Social Control
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Assess the social control issues in psychology.Social control is used to regulate behaviours of individuals in society. One aspect of biological
psychology where knowledge gained has led to control in society is the use of drug therapy to reduce
levels of aggression. For example, studies in hormones show that levels of aggression is linked or
caused by high levels of testosterone, meaning a person with higher testosterone are more likely to
be aggressive. This is a form of social control since drugs that could control the levels of testosterone
such as MPA in reducing aggression which is prescribed by doctors to their patients as an easy and
cheap way to control individual’s aggression. This is beneficial in society to reduce crime rates based
on aggressive behaviour such as physical abuse leading to a safer society. However, there is sometimes
a misuse due to the fact that drugs prescribed are usually just to mask the symptoms rather than
“curing” aggression, meaning behaviour is controlled since its far more convenient for the clinician
rather than actually taking further research in curing their patients or even rehabilitating them which
arguably is an abuse of power on the clinician’s side.
Moreover, knowledge from the learning approach explains that reinforcement controls society based
on the use of reinforcements in institutions such as schools. For example, teachers have the power to
give rewards or punishments to their pupils by giving them star charts on which teachers reward good
behaviour, while bad behaviours are punished with detentions or not getting any ‘stars’. This is a form
of social control as teachers’ reinforcement help modify pupils’ behaviour, making sure that they are
behaving well in class and with treating their peers with respect. However, there are misuses when it
comes to operant conditioning. For example, it increases the likelihood of gambling behaviour due to
the financial rewards and psychological rewards gained from slot machines. This is a form of social
control since slot machines are a variable reinforcement schedule that controls individuals in
repeating their behaviour due to lack of predictability.
Furthermore, an aspect from clinical psychology where knowledge gained has led to control in society
is the use of diagnostic processes to control which individuals are to be admitted into hospitals. For
example, clinicians use the DSM-5 to diagnose their patients. This is a form of social control since the
symptoms and diagnosis are violations of societal norms, so the clinicians can decide that their
patients have a certain disorder or symptoms. However, there are misuses of the diagnostic processes
as a form of social control, such as chances of misdiagnosing. For example, Rosenhan conducted a
study and found that clinicians misdiagnosed the sample into having Bipolar and Schizophrenia even
if they don’t have it. This is a negative form of social control since the patients or the individuals who
are misdiagnosed by the clinicians will be labelled with the disorder even though they do not have it.
On the other hand, knowledge from social psychology shows that control of behaviour in society could
be done through a legitimate authority, such as the police, wearing uniforms. This is a form of social
control since the police has an ability to modify people’s behaviour to not cause any trouble in society.
However, there are misuses of the agency theory if applied in the military. For example, the theory
explains how moral strain can be reduced in the military which leads the members to obey to
commands even if it is morally wrong. This is a form of social control since the chiefs manipulate the
soldiers into thinking that their violence are reasonable since they are fighting the “bad guys”.
In conclusion, knowledge from psychology has positive factors in order to regulate people’s behaviour.
This includes giving out drug therapies for patients, to reinforce good behaviours of students, to
diagnose patients and putting them into right treatments, and as well as making the environment
safer due to police uniforms. However, there are also negative factors such as the likelihood of
gambling, misdiagnosing, and manipulation of the military. Even if knowledge in psychology helps the
society, everyone should still be mindful on how they use these knowledge to benefit each individual
and not abuse it.
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