Exploring Psychological Explanations of Criminal Behaviour Essay

It has been long the interest of psychologists in understanding the factors that determine psychopathy (Skeem et al., 2011). Family factors, whether they being genetic or environmental, have always been classified preponderant in the development of psychopathy (Millon et al., 2002, cited in Hildebrand, 2004). Researchers have looked and established that psychopaths are at a higher risk to be violent offenders than normal population (Theodorakis, 2013). Likewise, researchers have demonstrated that among family factors, a large number of children in the family was the strongest predictor of offending (Farrington et al., 2006). This study aims to explore whether a large family size is a contributing factor to the development of psychopathy and offending. 1.1 The research problem A review of literature shows that there is very little research and evidence as regards to the correlation between large family size and psychopathy (Farrington et al., 2006). Thus, the research problem is to investigate the extent large family size impacts the development of psychopathy. 1.2 The purpose of the study The purpose of the study is to determine whether family size, previously acknowledged having an effect on delinquency, likewise exerts an impact on the development of psychopathy. There is very little and very limited research that speaks to this theory, thereafter the conduction of this study will allow to further people’s understanding of the causes or what triggers psychopathy and violent offending and what can be done to prevent it. 1.3 The objectives of the study Taking into account the above reasoning, three research hypotheses were formulated. Hypothesis 1: There will be a significant positive relationship between ... ..., C.J., Lilienfeld, S.O. (2011). Psychopathic Personality: Bridging the Gap Between Scientific Evidence and Public Policy.Psychological Science in the Public Interest. 12 (3) 95-162. doi: 10.1177/1529100611426706 http://pspi.sagepub.com. - Theodorakis, N. (2013). Psychopathy and its relationship to criminal behaviour . IALS Student Law Review. 1 (1) 47-56. Retrieved from file:///C:/Users/u1273529/Downloads/1705-2277-1-PB%20(1).pdf. - Tibbetts, S. G. and Gilbert, T. D. , 2006-11-01 "The Effects of Family Size on the Development of Delinquency" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology (ASC), Los Angeles Convention Center, Los Angeles, CA . 2013-12-16 from http://citation.allacademic.com/meta/p124920_index.html - Wadsworth, M. (1979). Roots of Delinquency: Infancy, Adolescence and Crime. Oxford: Martin Robertson.

Immanuel Kant Paper Essay

Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) is one of the most influential philosophers in history of Western philosophy. A main representative of the Western-European classical philosophy, Immanuel Kant dealt with the best traditions of the German idealism. A human personality, according to Kant is the highest and absolute value. It is the personality, in Kant’s understanding, that towers the person over its own self and links the human being with the â€Å"order of things†. The â€Å"order of things†, according to Kant is the reflection of the â€Å"common sense†. The whole perceived world around us complies with the â€Å"order of things†. The most interesting part of Kant’s philosophy is that his own notion of the â€Å"order of things† and â€Å"common sense† is dual in case of analyzing it. In his work â€Å"Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals† Kant’s thoughts come to a vital question. This question lies in the fight between the undermost and highest abilities of a desire, between the longing to happiness and a good will that is a manifestation of duty. In this work it is very easy to trace Kant’s intension to oppose the â€Å"clean† teaching of morality and its degradation to any ethical relativism, which causes this degradation of morality. He tried to create the highest form of estimation of the ethical principles that managed morality? For he believed that the degradation of morality starts from, the impossibility to evaluate what is really wrong or right. Here, is the point where Immanuel Kant enters the definition of the notion â€Å"good will†. Kant explains what a â€Å"good will† is and what difference it makes in the perception of the moral actions that a person makes. Kant’s main intention is to underline the moral value of motivation and its realization at least through the presence of a â€Å"good will† in a person. Kant 3 Analysis of Kant’s â€Å"good will† â€Å"The only thing that is good without qualification or restriction is a good will†. Kant outlines that goodness objectively remains to be goodness, even if nobody is really good. From this understanding he offers the definition of what a good will is. The notion of Kant’s ethics is the autonomous good will. This â€Å"good will† is not passive; a carrier of this will needs to make actions and deeds. A moral action looks like a result of an internal imperative command. So Kant makes an accent on the importance of the behavior, which is managed by the good will. â€Å"That is to say, a good will alone in good in all circumstances and in that sense is an absolute or unconditioned good†. Kant evaluates a good will without basing on the results, which it produces. From the point of view of the philosopher a good will keeps remaining good even if it does achieve the goal it had. In other words, even if an individual fails to do something commanded by his good will what he did remains a good thing unconditionally. At the same time Immanuel Kant views a good will as a unique goodness that is able to produce the result it intended to produce. A good will is still valuable by itself, because it objectively either exists or not in the personality. â€Å"Good will† vs. Happiness As it has been already mentioned Immanuel Kant in his work â€Å"Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals† widely uses the term â€Å"good will†. It is very important to understand the Kant 4 reason Kant valued this notion so deeply. To completely understand this it is necessary to draw the parallel between a good will and objective happiness of every individual. Let us suppose, basing on Kant’s words, that we meet a person who at all points is successful: he has power, wealth, a good health, a good state of mind, he is satisfied with his life, looks and considers himself to be a happy person. Can we say analyzing this man that he is happy? Generally yes. People would ordinarily say that this man is happy and has everything to be happy and his own perception of being happy in addition. Kant’s question to this matter is different – does this happiness have a moral base? From Kant’s point of view some conditions and qualities of a â€Å"happy person† are not combined with any moral bases. At this point is necessary to come back to the term â€Å"good will†. The absence of a good will makes unacceptable generally needed personal qualities such as wittiness, ability to judge, courage, decisiveness and many others. Kant implies that these qualities may become â€Å"evil† in case when they are not supported by the good will. From the philosopher’s opinion a good will forms, probably, the most essential condition not only of being happy but even of being worthy to be happy. The essence of a â€Å"good will† A â€Å"good will† is a will, not able to be cruel or evil. The â€Å"supposition† of goodness forms the nature of the good will. Goodness it the main requirement of the existence of the â€Å"good will† according to Immanuel Kant. A good will is a will in which subjective characteristics of an individual do not prevent but define and help the â€Å"desire to do good†. Good will in its own sense is a unity of liberty and law, mind and goodness. The purity of determination of the will by the Kant 5 mind is the real meaning of its goodness. Kant also refers to the â€Å"absolute good will†. The â€Å"sanctity† of this good will in Kant’s understanding comes from its superiority over Kant’s ordinary †good will†. Kant views the absolute good will as the moral destination of the human mind. It is the main goal of the highest gift humanity has ever gotten – the human mind. Kant interprets this form of will as a â€Å"pure† will. Kant through his notion â€Å"good will† reveals the necessity of high moral values in the life of every person, without which the life even subjectively happy individual is may not be called complete and successful, but even a failure of mind to success and to purify. Kant makes an accent on the required versatility of the good will –a good will needs to become the law of will of any creature. A good will possesses a full unity of subjective and objective beginnings of the will in the unconditional law of moralities. Plausibility of Kant’s view of the â€Å"good will† Some people claim that Kant’s idea seems to be a utopia of perfection. According to Kant the perfection of will is estimated by the completeness of absolute will in an individual. If therefore the perfection of will is a moral law, all other laws of duty remain considerably imperfect, which also makes the good will imperfect, too. Therefore, a human being is a unique creature, for which perfection in other fields is not as valid, as the good will is. The complete perfection is achieved only the good will itself, for it is objectively and unconditionally good. Can this be considered to be a universal law? And is a good will the most valuable thing philosophically? What Kant assures the reader is that the good will is good even if it does not produce the necessary effects and does not achieve the results is aimed to achieve. If the reader analyzes this point of view from a practical example he might face a certain difficulty. For instance, a person’s Kant 6 goal is to do a good thing, but while trying to do it he causes definite harm. Can it be estimated to be still a good will, even if it caused negative results, opposite to the ones aimed to achieve. The most questionable part of Kant’s opinion is the evaluation of the result of the action produced by the good will. As both positive and negative results do not postpone the goodness of the good will it is very hard to objectively judge the actions of a person. If the perfection can be found only inside of the good will and nothing else can be perfect by itself, than how can a person assume that he poses a good will. This is very doubtful, due to the difference of the notion of happiness of other people. Individual’s subjectivity does not allow them to possess a good will because even if their intensions are good they cannot know for sure that what they want to do is good in terms of the person they want to help and anything else. At the same time the fact of willing good may not be taken into count. If there are two different people with the same results obtained and if their wills are opposing each other, than the person that possessed a good will in his intentions is the â€Å"good† one. It is about the inconsistency of the will and the result of the action the will produces. Kant idea seems to be a utopia, but nevertheless, it may be called plausible due to the possibility to perfect while trying to achieve the absolute will. It is very plausible that even if a man is talented, gifted, if he posses the most suitable temperament for his ambience, even if he is clever, voluptuous, sincere it all may produce harm in case if it not directed by a good will. Immanuel Kant outlines that a good will is what makes a man highly moral and therefore evaluates him in its own definition. Conclusion Immanuel Kant provided a philosophical point of view of the morality of the society. His â€Å"good will† innovation gave the bases to the works of other famous philosophers. Immanuel Kant 7 Kant’s â€Å"good will theory† claims that only if a thing does not require anything else to be good in order to function – then it is good and if it does it is good with a certain limitation. â€Å"Good will† is estimated both by the goodness of the willing and the result of this willing, not necessarily both at the same time. As all the personal qualities require a good will to conduct them in order to be good – they are all good with limitations. At the same time a good will does not need all these qualities to be good. All the qualities and opportunities in the society around are good with limitations and the only thing that will make them truly good – is the good will, for it is the only thing that does not require anything else to be good. Kant’s unexcelled idea enraptures the thinker with its depth. The most important thing to understand, according to Kant is that the goodness of a good will is not evaluated through the result it achieves and the result itself has nothing to with the goodness of the good will and under no condition does limit its goodness. Nothing would end this paper better that Kant’s own words carrying the most important message he wanted people to hear: â€Å"It is impossible to conceive anything at all in the world, or even out of it, which can be taken as good without qualification, except a good will†. Kant 8 Bibliography Abbott, I. K. (1829). Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals. New York: Broadview Press Ltd. Beck, t. L. (1959). Foundations of Metaphysics of Morals. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill. Kessler. (2009). Voices of Wisdom. Mason: Cengage Learning.

Opportunity To Take Part In Mission - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 5 Words: 1530 Downloads: 6 Date added: 2019/04/08 Category Society Essay Level High school Tags: Volunteer Essay Did you like this example? Not everyone has the opportunity to take part in mission trips or volunteer trips in their high school. Luckily my school offered an amazing trip to Nicaragua, a third world country in Central America, to help those in need through many different activities. Although this trip was not easy, required a lot of work and was even emotionally taxing, the life lessons that I have learned made it well worth it. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Opportunity To Take Part In Mission" essay for you Create order According to Dr. Jessie Voigts, volunteering will change your life. How can it not? Youre exploring a new place, culture, people † and working with them to affect change. I agree with this statement based on the fact that not only are you doing good for a community that needs help, but you are educating yourself on a completely different culture that will expand your knowledge and cultural awareness. I strongly believe that high schools should offer more opportunities for volunteer programs abroad in order for a student to be exposed to hands on work experience, educational and cultural awareness, and connection building. Volunteering is a way to dive deep into hands on education. Making a change in the world can start off with something as little as building one family a cement house so they dont have to live in a house built of tarp. Many volunteers overlook the construction aspect of volunteering because they think they need experience in building or they might not be strong enough to handle the difficult parts of construction volunteering. This is not always the case. When I travelled to Nicaragua, My group was assigned to build a house for a family who had just gave birth to a baby boy. They were living in a house made of plastic bags and tarps, with beds made of wood and no mattress. I did not have any experience with construction, and neither did anyone else in my group. Construction workers from the city we were volunteering in helped all of us, teaching us how to mix cement and eventually mold it into a small home. This was not easy, especially in the heat, but we all did our share of work and it really made a difference. You dont need experience in the construction and building business to help these people, you just need to have an open mind and willingness to work your hardest. Not only did I get a chance to help people in need live more comfortably, but now I know how to mix cement, which is something I would have never learned if I didnt go on this mission trip. There are many work sites that need more volunteers to help get more things done for these communities. If more students were offered the opportunities to do this, the more change there would be all around the world. Before my school informed me of volunteer abroad, I probably would have never looked into it simply because I didnt think I was capable. No matter who you are or how much experience you have, you can always help in some way. The feeling you get when you finish a product you worked so hard on, and see the impact you made on a community, is indescribable. Hands on volunteering experience is something that can become useful as you go through life. It is a tool that can assist you day to day. Not only does volunteering abroad help the people of the community you are visiting, but it can help you as the volunteer. One way volunteering can help you is academically. Volunteering in a foreign country can improve language development. I took Spanish at my high school, and when I went to Nicaragua my Spanish improved tremendously. Even just being there for a week, having to communicate with the people of Leon, Nicaragua helped me once I got back into the classroom and made me more interested in the class. For many of my friends, Nicaragua impacted their career choices and studies in college. It helped them discover what they want to do in life and opened their eyes to learning things they never thought they would be interested in. My friend Betsy, who came on the Nicaragua mission trip, decided to double major in communications and Spanish because of the experiences she had communicating with the people of Leon. Traveling to Nicaragua and communicating with the kids in Spanish, emphasized my true passion for the language and made me realize that I want to pursue a career in Spanish. Not only did it help me in the classroom but it also helped me gain knowledge through real life experiences. Being away from home and in this place where children dont even have beds to sleep on really made me think. It made me question things like why and how this country got to this point? What is the history behind it? It helped me to think outside of the classroom about things that I am really interested in, which improved my critical thinking. Critical thinking is a very important aspect in life and it is something many young people arent exposed to, especially in high school. As Bell Hook said in his Critical Thinking piece, Critical thinking involves first discovering the who, what, when, where, and how of things-finding the answers to those eternal questions of the inquisitive child-and then utilizing that knowledge in a manner that enables you to determine what matters most.(9) I agree with Hook that critical thinking is something that helps you discover what is truly important in life. Learning about the Nicaraguan culture and history really has helped me find myself and be more appreciative for what I have today. When you see little girls who cant stop taking pictures on your phone because they have never seen a reflection of themselves, it makes you thankful for things you didnt even think was a privilege. After my mission trip, I try not to take things for granted, and when Im having a bad day I think of what people in third world countries are going through. What moved me to look at life in a different and more joyful way was that even though the families had close to nothing, barely enough food, barely enough clothes, and no beds to sleep on, they always have a smile on their face and are thankful for the little things they do have. I was inspired and it changed my whole point of view in life, which is very important for a high schooler because we are often confused and uneducated on what life really is like outside of our comfort zone. Building relationships with people around you is a skill that will help someone in all aspects of life. When volunteering abroad, you form special connections with teachers, fellow students, and the people of the community you helped. I was able to build very close relationships with my advisors and teachers on this trip. Because of this relationship that we built, teachers saw us as equal. We were learning from each other, helping each other, and no one person was above the other. Instead of the teacher acting as if they have all the knowledge and we have to listen and memorize, they communicated with us. I frequently found myself partaking in discussions with my teachers in which we were both learning something from each others insight. As Paulo Freire says The teacher is no longer merely the-one-who-teaches, but one who is himself taught in dialogue with the students, who in turn while being taught also teach. They become jointly responsible for a process in which all grow.(7) The process in which both the student and teacher grow is truly remarkable. What struck this relationship between the teacher and student is working together. Once we were working together on a job site, It struck the opportunity for communication and education based on life experience. Working together to communicate with the Nicaraguan people who did not speak english, brought us together as a team. Freire also states, Yet only through communication can human life hold meaning. Freire is right, communicating is a key factor in life today. Learning how to communicate with people and building relationships is a life skill you will need throughout life. It is a skill you will use when going on interviews for jobs, beginning a new life at a university, and in the work place when you have to cooperate with others. The life skills that I gained from my experience volunteering in Nicaragua, are skills that I probably wouldnt have today if I had not went. More high schools across the country should make their students more aware of the benefits this program can offer. Christine Williams supports my thesis with an article about volunteering abroad. In the article she states, Itll open your eyes to global inequalities, give you a greater appreciation for everything you have, and help you contribute to making the world a better place. Students wont have the opportunity to contribute to all of these things if they are not educated of the importance of volunteering, and I dont think students should miss out on the opportunity.