Outlining and Evaluating theories of relationship breakdown. Essay Example for Free

Outlining and Evaluating theories of relationship breakdown. Essay Stephanie Rollie and Steve Duck developed a model of the termination of close and intimate relationships in 2006.This model focuses on the processes that typify relationship breakdown , rather than being tied to distinct phases that people pass through . The 6 stages may appear to overlap or have common features but also serve very different purposes and ultimately have different consequences. Initially , the first stage is breakdown , this is where one of the partners decides that they cant stand it any more and only when this dissatisfaction manifests itself into a complete reality check of I cant stand this any more do we see a progression to the next stage of this stage theory. After the breakdown Rollie and Duck suggest that the second stage is something known as the intra-psychic process ; this is generally characterised as a social withdrawal and resentment with the dissatisfied partner focusing on their partners faults and a sense of being underbenifited. This normally coincides with a tendency to re-evaluate the relationship and consider alternatives. The next stage is something known as the dyadic processes ; this is where partners begin to talk with each other about the problems leading to the breakdown , sometimes this can result in reconciliation as the other partner accepts the validity of the dissatisfied partners views.( only if its constructive not destructive ) This stage could be seen as the make or break stage where issues are brought up like we need to stay together for the kids or just a general believe that things dont have the capacity to change. The fourth stage in this model is social processes ; the break up is aired and made public to friends and family , generally , advice and support and sought from people outside the relationship and alliances are created (e.g. you can do better than her) .Also in this stage things are discussed which tell us that a relationship is progressing deeply through the stage , for example child custody. The fifth stage is the grave dressing processes ; this focuses on the spectra of the relationship I.e. How it  started ?, what was it like ? How it went wrong . This stage also sees partners organize their post relationship lives and begin to publicise there own accounts of the breakdown. It is highly likely that not the same story is told to everybody as the ex partner may want to appear in a different light to different people , e.g. new potential partners. The final stage of Rollie and Ducks model is the resurrection process ; this is simply the final evaluation of the relationship and what the partners need to improve on or change for their next . Rollie and Ducks model is supported by observations of real-life break ups . Tashiro and Frazier 2003 surveyed undergraduates who had recently experienced the breakdown of a romantic relationship . They found that not only had the students experienced emotional distress but at the same time had new insight into what they wanted in their next relationship . This links support to the grave dressing and resurrection process as it is setting a new template for the future thus supporting 2 stages of the model and consequently lending support and credibility to the model. On the contrary the fact that it looked at undergraduates who are new into a scene with loads of people they dont know leaves this research open to scrutiny of age bias , the model even states that young adults tend to test the market and that the 6 stages mainly apply to older people , this doesnt necessarily reduce validity of the model but casts doubt on the generalisability of it The model doesnt consider individual differences which I believe plays a massive intrinsic and extrinsic role in this process. In 1998 Akert found the role people played in the dissolution of the relationship was the single biggest indicator of the impact of the dissolution experience . Concluding that the instigator suffered less of the negative consequences of break up (e.g. depression and loneliness) than the non instigator. The model generalises the emotional impact to both the non instigator and the instigator which in the majority of cases is unfair as someone is likely to be more hurt than the other , this decreases the reliability of the model because everybody behaves differently , its in our nature. Rollie and Ducks model is subject to heterosexual bias because it cannot be generalised to lesbian , gay , bisexual or transgender relationships . For example a homosexual couple that are not out as homosexual cannot go through the social processes stage as they wont have that social network due to the fact they are not out as homosexual. It clear that there are many more extraneous variables that mean that different people go though different forms of a relationship breakdown ,there is no norm. In congruency with this not all heterosexual couples act the same as a couple that have had a 3 week fling will break up differently to a couple in a marital relationship. The point I am making here is that the model needs to differentiate between the nature of a relationship before it can gain fully credibility through its application of stages. Culture plays a large role in this and there is definitely culture bias present in this model as it is only applicable to the western world , further from this it is only applicable to the western world to an extent due to religion , for example the catholic church frown upon divorce and will not allow a re marriage in that church after a divorce. In most cases a break up is not seen as unscrupulous or deviant in western culture but in others like collectivist tribal cultures where marriage is arranged and is a conjugate of 2 families rather than individuals a break up is non negotiable . Thus rendering the model culture bias as it is clearly only applicable to western society. Evolutionary psychologists attempt to explain relationship breakdown by 4 predictions , it is important to remember that these are prediction and not assumptions. As is does with the mate preferences this area of psychology differentiates between male and female aspects of breakdown. 1)Costs related to emotional investment; this says that the female rejectees will experience a greater loss associated with the emotional investment withdrawal due to the potent dependence on the resources of the man.(applicable to relationships involving older people) this comes from the hunger gather theory of evolution. 2)Increasing commitment ; This is the idea that males may manipulate the female knowing that she values emotional commitment extremely highly , it suggest that men who fear for there relationship will  attempt to increase commitment through a variety of ways , for example cohabitation , marriage or children. It is thought that this is to maintain sexual access to the female. Yet again this is based on ideas of evolution first outlined by Charles Darwin. 3)Infidelity ; This implies that males are more likely to be unfaithful and cheat on their partners due to their desire for sexual variation . This can also be a way of ending the relationship and forcing the rejectee to move on more swiftly. 4)Reputational damage ; the rejectors may be viewed as heartless by a jury of their peers and the rejectee may be portrayed as a helpless victim . It is thought that this could damage the rejectors reputation and consequently affect there chances of finding an alternative . To counter act this the rejector may deploy tactics like can we still be friends . Perilloux and Buss conducted research into this area in 2008 when they got 98 males and 101 females to fill in a questionnaire at a university . 69% of the participants where white Caucasian and the rest where from a range of ethnic backgrounds ( attempting to emit culture bias). They found that females more than males reported higher levels of costs associated with losing their partners emotional commitment . This supports the evolutionary approach as it shows that there is a cost relating to emotional investment specifically in women , as the prediction outlines. Also they found that more males than females reported success at preventing a relationship breakdown by increasing their level of commitment , again showing stacks of support for increasing commitment . Male rejectors more than female rejectors reported engaging in sex with other potential mates prior to the break up . Conclusively supporting the notion of infidelity. And finally rejectors indicated a higher cost of being seen as cruel and heartless compared to the rejectees , Fully supporting the idea of reputational damage. In terms of finding linked to the predictions Perilloux and Buss extrapolated evidence to support all , giving masses of credibility to the evolutionary predictions. On the contrary , this is a fairly socially sensitive explanation because it casts males in a bad light suggesting that they are unscrupulous through infidelity , the implications of this are that males may feel insulted by  the idea that they would sleep with somebody else to end a relationship , where in many cases men are just as faithful if not more faithful than women .Thus rendering the predictions socially sensitive.

Existentialist Themes Of Anxiety And Absurdity Essay -- Philosophy Phi

Existentialist Themes of Anxiety and Absurdity In a world with such a vast amount of people there exists virtually every different belief, thought, and ideology. This means that for every argument and every disagreement that their exists two sides of relative equal strength. It is through these disagreements that arguments are formed. Arguments are the building blocks in which philosophers use to analyze situations and determine theories of life. For the purpose of this paper I will try and argue my personal beliefs on a specific argument. This argument is presented in a form of a question and upon examination of the contents of this question, several different and unique questions arise. In order to support my theory as to the answer to this question I will attempt to answer the three subquestions which deal less with the content of the question itself and more with the reaction to reading the question. Also key to the support of my theory is the concept of existentialism. I will go into the foundations of this ethical theory throughout the remainder of this paper. Subquestion one, â€Å"E --> C†, simple asks whether it is true or false that if you have an ethical theory then does it have to be consistent. Subquestion two, â€Å"(?) --> H†, poses the idea of what makes up the essence of being a human being. Subquestion three, â€Å"E --> (H --> M)†, asks whether it is true or false that it is ethical to assume that humans should be given moral priority over animals. I order to support my interpretation and answer the topic question, I will try to explain my personal ethical theory. We were given several different theories in which to emulate or pick pieces of in order to define such words which have different meanings to different people. For such vague words such as `right' and `wrong', the context in which they are presented are vital pieces in order to define them. It is my belief, and a necessary requirement of this paper to somehow define these two words. It is obvious that these two words must be opposites of each other. Therefore, the understanding of one will easily lead to the understanding of its opposite. However, the words themselves will never be anything more than five letters grouped together. This is because your ethical theory and someone else's ethical theory could possible conflict causing for a discrepan... ...kill as a means of survival. At this point in time it is only necessary to kill certain animals as a form of food source and for other luxury items. There have been times when it was necessary for humans to kill an animal for food. I wonder if a person who did not eat meat would starve to death if the only thing to eat was meat? And as long as we do not over kill a certain species then they will continue to reproduce and the food chain will continue to work. Being descendants of other living things, humans must insure that nature is let to work on it own, continuing to do what it has done for many years.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In response to subquestion one, I do not feel that it is possible to remain consistent in any ethical theory in which you live by. This is mainly because every ethical theory that I now of is entirely too focused and usually not completely relevant to every circumstance. The more broad your definition or theory is then the closer you come to the only one that will always work. The less you say what you can and cant do, the closer you come to saying nothing. Once you have generalized your theory so much that you eliminated everything then you are stuck with

Deviance: Nature vs. Nurture Essay

Every society has developed their own rules and principles, and every society contains those who break away from these norms and expectations. These people are called deviants. All societies throughout history have had these deviants who refuse to follow the rules set up by the community in which they live. Deviance is necessary, to some degree, for societies to advance. Without deviance, human culture would stagnate. The causes of deviance, like many other topics, is up for debate. Some say people are genetically determined to either be deviant or not, some say deviance is caused by the environment in which they grow up: nature, or nurture. Throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many families were studied in order to possibly find a connection between heredity and criminality or â€Å"feeble-mindedness† (feeble-mindedness was a term used in this time period that could mean a number of things: various forms of mental retardation, learning disabilities, and mental i llness). The two most well- known studies were of the Jukes and the Kallikak families. The Jukes were first studied in 1874 when a sociologist named Richard L. Dugdale studied the records of 13 prisons in New York. After researching a number of convicts’ genealogies, he found that there was a man, whom he gave the name Max, born somewhere between 1720 and 1740 who was the ancestor of 76 convicted criminals, 18 brothel owners, 120 prostitutes, over 200 people on welfare, and 2 cases of feeble-mindedness. In 1912, another study was published on the Jukes, this time by a man named Arthur H. Estabrook, who claimed Dugdale’s study hadn’t been thorough enough. Estabrook added more than 2,000 additional people into the group of subjects included under the pseudonym â€Å"Jukes,† raising the total to 2,820. The Kallikak family was first studied in the same year as the last study on the Jukes was published. Henry H. Goddard was an American psychologist who ran the New Jersey Home for the Education and Care of Feebleminded Children (now known as Vinel and Training School). In 1912, he began to study the genealogy of a woman in his facility, who he gave the pseudonym â€Å"Deborah Kallikak.† Goddard found that the woman’s great-great-great grandfather, Martin Kallikak, a Revolutionary War hero, at one point had an illegitimate child with a feeble-minded barmaid. This child, a son, had children of his own, who had their own children, and continued on through the generations. These descendants all wound up poor, insane, criminal, or mentally retarded. However, after further research into Martin Kallikak’s family tree, Goddard found that his other descendants, those not related to the feeble-minded barmaid, were completely different. These children grew up to be intelligent, prosperous, upright citizens; they went into careers like doctors, lawyers, and ministers. According to Dugdale, Estabrook, and Goddard, there is a very clear link between genetics and the behavior in which a person participates within their lifetime. These studies , however, are 100 years old. Some people would argue that unless more modern research is devoted to genetic-based deviance, that we cannot consider these studies valid today. There has been a significant amount of study given to genetically caused deviance, in particular to the MAOA gene. In a few different studies the low-expression variant of this gene, known as MAOA-L, has been linked to an increased risk of violence and aggressive behavior. The MAOA gene controls the production of monoamine oxidase A, an enzyme that lowers the body’s use of neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin. When the MAOA-L gene is present in a person, their body will use more of these neurotransmitters than normal, this can lead to sleep disorders, excessively impulsive or violent behaviors, and extreme mood swings. A 2006 study, headed by Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg, found that people with the MAOA-L gene were more likely to have a smaller limbic system. The limbic system includes the hippocampus, amygdala, anterior thalami c nuclei, and the limbic cortex. These parts of the brain help to control emotion, behavior, and long-term memory. The study also found that the amygdala became hyper responsive when the participants with the MAOA-L gene were given a task such as copying a facial expression. The amygdala is a part of what controls emotional processing in the brain; the researchers hypothesized that this group would be less likely to inhibit strong emotional impulses. Studies such as these can give great support to the nature side of the deviance debate. On the nurture side of the argument, numerous studies on the effects of a divorce or broken home on a child have led to some convincing statistics. Children of divorced parents are about two times more likely to drop out of high school than those whose parents continued to be together. Females who grew up in a family where the parents divorced are roughly twice as likely to become teenage mothers than those living with non-divorced, biological parents. Seventy percent of long- term convicted criminals were raised in a broken home. While 75% of juvenile criminals who are considered a threat to the public also came from a divorced family. A perfect example of deviance being a result of environment and not genetics is a man named Richard Ramirez. Ramirez was born in 1960 and was the youngest of six children; he and his siblings all grew up surrounded by the same home environment. The difference for Richard being that around ten years old, his cousin, Mike, became a role model after returning from the war in Vietnam and receiving numerous awards and medals. However, Mike was not a positive influence on Ramirez; he showed Richard pictures of women in Vietnam whom he raped, and then showed him pictures of the same women after they had been brutally murdered. Mike taught Richard how to hunt effectively, and eventually introduced him to drugs and theft. What many consider the final trigger for Ramirez, about 11 years old at the time, was when he witnessed Mike kill his wife. In 1983 Richard Ramirez moved to the Los Angeles, California area; soon after, in June of 1984, Ramirez claimed his first victim. â€Å"The Night Stalker,† as he was eventually labeled, continued on a string of murders, rapes, and mutilations until he was incarcerated in August of 1985. Ramirez was convicted of 13 murders, 5 attempted murders, 11 sexual assaults, and 14 burglaries. He is currently on death row.

Symptoms And Treatment Of Schizophrenia - 3448 Words

ABSTRACT Schizophrenia is a public health issue affecting 1% of the world population. Its disorders are characterized in general by distortions of thinking and perception, and by inappropriate or blunted affections. It still raises many doubts, anxieties and prejudices in relatives, friends and the entire society. The importance of overcoming the disease denial and prejudices is essential for the proper development of treatment. Gatherings from psychological and psychiatric observations blend in order to provide an elaborate clarification of schizophrenia. There is not a cure for the disease but medications like antipsychotics and psychological therapies help control the symptoms of the disease. Relatives, friends and all healthcare professionals should be aware of these psychiatric behaviors so a healthy introduction of treatment may be applied to the ill, emphasizing a humanized care. Key words: Schizophrenia. Pathology. Treatment. Awareness. Coexistence. 1. INTRODUCTION It was initially described as a disease where people suffering from it, exhibited a regressed behavior, similar to elderly people with Alzheimer s disease. Schizophrenia is mainly characterized by a mental disintegration, in which a person loses the ability to assimilate their emotions and feelings with their thoughts, having unrealistic beliefs, referred to as delusions, as well as false perceptions of their environment, known as hallucinations. With these mental characteristics, the disease producesShow MoreRelatedSymptoms And Treatment Of Schizophrenia Essay937 Words   |  4 PagesIntroduction Per MentalHelp.net, schizophrenia is rare with approximately one-percent of the worldwide population and 1.2 percent of the population of the United States suffering from the disease as of 2009. Accurate statistics are difficult to obtain because many sufferers do not seek help. 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People with this disorder can have a hard time figuring out what is real and what isn’t real. A common side effect to schizophrenia is hallucinations and delusions. Another common side effect is social withdrawal, which means that they avoid socialRead MoreSymptoms And Treatment Of Schizophrenia843 Words   |  4 PagesPeople who suffered from schizophrenia were once mistaken to be â€Å"dangerous† and untreatable. For this reason, they were often institutionalized and removed from society (DiRocco). The causes of this mental psychotic disorder has been much more understood over the past decade resulting in the possibility for people with schizophrenia to live more average lives. 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