Case Assignment

Now that you are familiar with some of the psychologists and main theories within psychology, it is time to apply the viewpoints of Humanistic, Cognitive, Psychoanalytic  and Behavioral Psychology, which are some of the broadest and most widely used theories in psychology.  For this case study you will look at an event through the lenses of these psychologists.

School violence is a terrible tragedy that has affected many children.  One of the most infamous events was the shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado in 1999. This involved two students who killed 13 people and then killed themselves.  Most recently there was the tragedy at Newtown Connecticut in which 26 people were killed.

Dr. Humine, is a humanistic psychologist, Dr. Cogent is a Cognitive Psychologist, and Dr. Bean is a Behavioral Psychologist, and Dr. Freed is a psychoanalyst.  Your assignment is to describe how 3 of these Psychologists might view school violence from their specific psychological perspective.  Your paper should include a general description of their psychological theory, and then interpret school violence in general or choose a specific incident to evaluate more specifically.   Your paper should show the lens in which these psychologists see their behavior, and also address potential treatment options to try and prevent further instances of violence.

Assignment Expectations

Your paper should be 4-6 pages long, and include 3 of the 4 approaches and 4-6 references.    

• Psychoanalytic: Emphasizes the importance of unconscious mental processes and early childhood, as well as sexual instincts.  Believes things can be hidden within the uncounsous mind, and these can be explored through psycholanalysis.

• Behaviorism: Maintains that behavior is learned through previous learning experiences or interactions with social environment. Behaviorists don’t traditionally focus on mental processes because they believe that mental processes are too difficult to observe and measure objectively. Behaviorism is involved in the ongoing controversy of the influence of television and videogame violence on children.

• Cognitive: Focuses on the mental processing of information, including the specific functions of reasoning, problem solving, and memory. Cognitive psychologists focus on thoughts that guide and cause behavior.

• Humanistic and existential:  A more positive approach that emphasizes the uniqueness of each individual person and our ability and responsibility to make choices in our lives, and believe that a person’s free choice, free will, and understanding of the meaning of events in his or her life are important.   Individuals may be driven by goodness and the desire to self-actualize.