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Generic mark scheme comments for social control Q: Assess both practical and ethical implications of the social control exerted by those who provide treatment/therapy MS: Therapists will interpret symptoms/behaviour according to their own beliefs which may not be helpful to the client By imposing their views on a client’s problems they may be ignoring issues which are serious for that client E.g. a Freudian may interpret depression as caused by relationships with parents and ignore other threats to the client’s well being possibly leading to a risk of suicide going undetected (2 marks) Clinicians often prescribe psychoactive drugs to treat a disorder without fully explaining or considering the negative side effects for the client Drugs often mask symptoms rather than tackling causes so are used to control patients as it is viewed as easier Clients may stop taking a drug once they start feeling better, as this returns control to themselves, with disastrous consequences Often clients are offered drug treatment as a first resort and not offered less controlling therapies unless drugs fail to work Many therapists tell the client what is wrong with them and why rather than inviting the client to understand their condition, meaning there is no attempt to develop insight However therapists may argue that those suffering from mental disorders are not usually in a state where insight can be achieved so imposing an explanation is kinder Forcing a client to undergo a treatment/therapy through threatening sectioning is unethical but may often be genuinely in the best interests of the client Q: (Nursing home scenario- 18 marker)Describe strategies based on psychological theory that the staff might consider using to gain control over the residents’ behaviour, and assess both the practical and ethical implications of such strategies. MS: token economy programme could be implemented so that residents who were more co-operative got more privileges and/or treats For example it may be that those who are not awkward get taken out on an extra day trip They may try and reward co-operative behaviour and ignore awkward behaviour as it may be the attention that the residents crave The nurses could try and increase the motivation of the residents to be cooperative by offering incentives as external motivators or thanking the residents when they are cooperative so improving intrinsic motivation If the staff used punishment strategies they may be inclined to remove e.g. the opportunity to have a choice of activities to act as a disincentive Anger management techniques such as modelling behaviour on ‘good’ residents may be tried Staff could talk to the awkward residents, try to identify what makes them uncooperative and work with them to bring this dissatisfaction under control using anger management techniques Sedative drugs may be prescribed to make the individuals more compliant with the staff ECT may be considered as a means of enforcing compliance Evaluation (given the suggestions described these points can either support a social control model or argue for the right of individuals to remain individuals)It is likely that candidates will address both practical and ethical issues. Token economies can be very practical as the staff would need very little training to be able implement it successfully Token economies are generally quite straightforward to implement and oversee so results may be quite rapid However it may be seen as wrong to discriminate against a group of residents in terms of privileges merely because they wish to disagree about things Identifying the reasons for refusing to cooperate could be a better strategy as then any programme of action can be more closely targeted/can remedy the problems and not the behaviour Ignoring disruptive behaviour if it distresses the other residents may not be a practical proposition even though it may be best from the point of view of changing behaviour If the awkward residents feel they have justifiable reasons for their behaviour, techniques to manage their behaviour are likely to be fruitless anyway Furthermore if the residents perceive themselves as having justifiable reasons then it is unethical to ignore these views as residents do not give up their rights when entering a nursing home Sedating residents merely to make them compliant breaks many ethical guidelines/it merely masks the problem rather than solving it Drugs used in this way are merely a chemical cosh with no attempt to understand the issues ECT used in these circumstances could be seen as a punishment and as such is unethical There is also no evidence that it will improve behaviour in fact it might lead to brain damage Treatments that humiliate residents are seen as unacceptable by most of society as they infringe human rights Rather than trying to change the independent behaviour of the residents the staff should utilise this by asking them for their suggestions on improving the home, this uses the principles of superordinate goals (Sherif) Q: Describe two different ways in which psychological knowledge could be used to exert social control over others. In your description include how these ways may be used to control people‟s behaviour in real life. MS: DRUG THERAPY Psychoactive drugs are given to treat mental disorders such as depression/; The idea is to enable the individual to function more effectively in society and lead a normal life/; The drugs are obtained on prescription from a doctor/psychiatrist who will monitor the patient to see how they progress This means the patient has to comply with what the clinician wants, such as additional therapy, in order to keep the drug supply TOKEN ECONOMY Staff in prisons may impose a TEP to improve the behaviour of the prisoners during social sessions They would give tokens for desirable behaviour, in their view, such as being polite to each other The prisoners will exchange the tokens for desired items such as phone calls or cigarettes This means the staff can manipulate the behaviour to suit the regime they wish to create CLASSICAL CONDITIONING By associating a behaviour with a particular situation an individual’s behaviour is influenced, even if they do not wish it to be linked Someone wishing to cure a fear of flying may pay to be classically conditioned to overcome their fear Practitioners will conduct an intensive course that lasts at most a few days and will train the individual to feel relaxed when in an aircraft No follow up to check on the long term effects of the treatment/; ROLE OF THE PRACTITIONER During a talking therapy the practitioner will determine the style and content of the therapy sessions Clients will, depending on the therapy be told what underpins their thoughts or what their thoughts mean Their assumptions about themselves will be challenged and they will be expected to change their thinking in a way determined by the practitioner Q: Using one of the ways of exerting social control, assess the practical implications of this type of social control MS: DRUG THERAPY Although drug therapy may be effective in controlling a mental disorder it can often produce unpleasant side effects that the patient may not want to experience However often it is the only practical way for those with more serious disorders to function out of an institution This may mean that drug treatment is also more affordable for a society If a patient does not take their medication while pretending they are doing they could endanger themselves or others because there is an assumption they are safe to leave unsupervised Drug treatments are often referred to as chemical coshes, this is because they can produce sufficiently strong side effects that the recipient is unable to function normally Compared to the financial costs of alternative strategies drug treatments are often very cost effective as a means of dealing with mental disorders TOKEN ECONOMY The use of a token economy in a prison may have the advantage of making the prison run more smoothly as the prisoners are happy to comply with staff wishes in return for rewards TEPs can be operated with a minimum of training for the staff so that administration can be rolled out in an institution fairly easily TEPs tend only to work well within institutions as it is necessary to be able to observe and respond to all examples of the desired behaviour in the individuals otherwise it will not work There is no guarantee that behaviour learned in an institution with a TEP will generalise to the outside world where there is no TEP in operation so any long term benefits may be forfeit If reinforcement is erratic/inconsistent it may reduce its effectiveness as a means of control TEPs can be effective at controlling an individual‟s behaviour provided the rewards on offer are ones the individual desires CLASSICAL CONDITIONING Systematic desensitisation can be considered a very positive method of helping people overcome an irrational fear By allowing people to control the speed of their progression through the therapy the therapist‟s level of control is minimised and that of the client increased making clients feel better about their therapy Systematic desensitisation has been shown to be effective in terms of cost and time with courses to cure a fear of flying run by airline companies costing less than £200, lasting one day and with a money back guarantee(2 marks) As the therapy can use in vitro methods it is not essential to always have the phobic object around, making it easier to undertake Although classical conditioning techniques such as SD are useful in treating phobias they are of very limited value for other disorders so if a therapist attempted to treat a patient with anorexia it would not be effective/eq; GENERIC POINTS Social control infringes the right of people to self determination so infringes national/international law Even if asked to enter an agreement to undergo treatment/therapy that involves social control a person may not understand the implications of what they are agreeing to before it is too late If someone has committed an offence or is seriously ill, either physically or mentally it may be argued by some people that they forgo the right to opt out of a treatment that involves social control