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Abnormal psycholoy in media
ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY IN THE MEDIA
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Abnormal Psychology in the Media
Abnormal psychology or psychopathology is a division of psychology that deals with emotional and mental disorders. It specializes in diagnosing and offering therapy to people exhibiting abnormal behavior. The disorders include dreams, neurosis, hypnosis, mental deficiency, and psychosis. Sexual deviation, obsessive compulsion, and depression are also significant areas of concern in this field of psychology. Some psychiatrists, psychologists, and counselors use several approaches when treating psychological disorders, but some prefer to focus on a single approach.
The media exhibits and highlights abnormal psychology through films and television shows, for example, in the television series The Sopranos. This American show premiered in the television network and premium cable Home Box Office (HBO) between January 10, 1999 and June 10, 2007. The show illustrated Major Depressive Disorder, which is a common mental disorder, through a lead character in the show named Anthony Soprano, Jr., otherwise known as A.J. He was the son of Carmela and Anthony Soprano, and was born on July 15, 1986. His Italian family lived in New Jersey, and his father belonged to a mafia, which he later joined.
A.J’s problem was inherited as it was depicted in the show since there was a history of psychiatric disorders in his family tree. For instance, A.J‘s father paid several trips to the psychiatrist since he was diagnosed with depression, and later, panic and antisocial personality disorders. His behavior was also unacceptable since he belonged to a mafia and participated in organized crime. In addition, his marriage became rocky, and the marital problems developed to separation, which adversely affected him. His father pressured him to take up responsibilities in life so that he may not become a failure. A.J’s father did this by organizing a job for him at a construction site so that he could be more productive now that he was grownup. He flourished at his construction job, and was lucky to meet a Puerto Rican girl named Blanca while working at the site. The two developed a close relationship and started dating, and as time went by, he proposed to her. However, Blanca had different thoughts on the proposal and decided to break up with A.J. This was the beginning of his depression, and could not even stand the site of Blanca talking to other men. It was so frustrating for him that he quit his job at the site. A.J. tried to nurse his frustrations by associating with his childhood friends, which proved therapeutic. He also enrolled for therapeutic sessions where a therapist helped him improve.
The story line elaborates that A.J suffers from anti-social personality disorder, which is depicted by his behavior. For instance, A.J is involved in murder by strangling somebody and behaves as if nothing happened as he drove to pick up his daughter from school just on time. In addition, he developed some unusual behavior after his break up with Blanca. He started sleeping a lot and locking himself up in his room, experiencing energy loss, and his appetite decreased. On a separate incident, he incites the destruction of his friend’s restaurant and denies being in knowledge of the arson. A.J. even cheated on his wife and continuously proclaimed that he loved her despite his infidelity. These acts are evidence of antisocial behavior that is against the society’s social norms. Anti-social personality disorder is also evident in the character A.J. since he became deceitful and cold-hearted for personal privilege. Worse still, A.J became suicidal and had attempted to suffocate and drown himself to death were it not for his father who found him in the act and rescued him. All of A.J’s behavior points to an abnormal psychological disorder.
There are various perspectives to human psychology, which are beliefs and perceptions of the human behavior. They include psychodynamic, cognitive, humanistic, behavioral, and biological approaches. Behavioral approach focuses on the observable behavior and not the maladaptive disorders. Its focus is the influence of environmental factors on human behavior. This theory holds that people become whom they are and behave in a particular manner by applying what they learn from the surroundings. The biological approach focuses on the underlying causes of abnormal psychology through analysis of gene influence on human behavior. The theory holds that inherited DNA greatly affects how one behaves. In addition, other factors in the body such as the brain, chromosomes, and hormones also have an impact on behavior. It believes that human behavior is inherited and maladaptive.
The cognitive perspective deals with the contribution of perceptions, reasoning and individual thoughts to abnormal psychology. It also believes that the human memory processes information in three stages, which are encoding, storage, and retrieval. The encoding stage receives and attends to information; the storage stage retains the received information while the retrieval stage recalls the stored information. The psychodynamic perspective believes that childhood events and the unconscious mind have a great impact on human behavior. A psychoanalyst called Freud proposed this theory, and he believes that human beings have very limited choices to make in their adulthood. This is because most of what happens in adulthood is influenced by childhood experiences. In addition, he believes that observable behavior has little contribution to behavior since the unconscious mind has the greatest impact on behavior. The humanistic theory or humanism focuses on the holistic being of human behavior. The theory believes that somebody’s behavior is closely associated with the self-image and inner feelings. Therefore, everybody is unique and autonomous and possesses the freewill to determine his or her destiny in life. The theory believes that only an individual is able to determine his or her well-being and happiness by pursuing the desire to achieve self-actualization.
A.J.’s case in the show The Sopranos, therapists could use the cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) to treat the character since he suffers from a psychological disorder. This therapy combines aspects of feelings, thought and actions, which affect one’s behavior. For example, A.J. developed negative thoughts of suicide, lack of remorse, and deception especially after he broke up with Blanca. This therapy could be applied to remedy his psychological distress and help him interpret situations and events from a positive perspective. The therapy aids people with psychological distress to develop positive thoughts and behavior that are therapeutic to the distress. This eliminates skewed judgment that has negative contribution to behavior.
The perspective I feel is the best is the cognitive approach because it focuses on the mental issues that affect behavior. The brain, thoughts, and perceptions have the most influence on human behavior since the information the mind processes will affect them either positively or negatively. Therefore, I would recommend that A.J. be prescribed to the cognitive behavior therapy since his behavior depicts that his disorder is cognitive.
Bibliography
Baucum, Donald. Psychology. Hauppauge: Barron’s Educational Series, 2006.
Cave, Steven. Classification and diagnosis of psychological abnormality. New York: Routledge Chapman & Hall, 2002.
Kearney, Christopher and Trull Timothy. Abnormal psychology and life. Independence: Cengage Learning, 2010.
Able Corporation Business Plan
Able Corporation Business Plan
The Boiled Frog phenomenon
The boiled frog phenomenon refer to a metaphorical situation where if a frog was placed in normal room temperature water the frog would continue to survive in the pleasing warm water which is the same as a heating Jacuzzi until it is cooked and dies. The metaphor is a commonplace occurrence in most businesses that are not in contact with most businesses. For example the dot com businesses were not able to appreciate changes in the market and underwent loses due to their failure to observe changes in the market environment. This principle is used in businesses that fail to recognize changes in the market environment. Changes have to be gradual and be appreciated. The current business environment is very competitive. Most companies find themselves in hot water and have to sense changes in the markets to stay afloat. They do not have to be thick-skinned as frogs and blind to the needs of their clients but instead have to be aware of the existing changes in products and service innovations in the world (Docmario, 2001).
Able Corporation Business Plan
According to Kotler and Keller (2006), any company that seeks to enter the multinational environment needs to have a “clear, thoughtful mission statement” in order to for its employees to have a “shared sense of purpose, direction, and opportunity” (p. 44). A good and effective mission statement has to take into consideration the interests of stakeholders, managers, employees and even customers of the company. In the case of Able Corporation an effective mission statement would be: To become a global leader in the field of power tools and lawn equipment supplies provision with emphasis in reliability, cost effectiveness, and modern innovations in its products that meet the most competitive pre-sale and post sale standards. Such a mission statement addresses the current abilities and future plans for the company in meeting the requirements of international standards of outdoor and power tools industry.
Beech (1997) states that a company’s operating plan “outlines your product/service, its purpose, how it will be produced and the facilities to be used” (p. 29). In the case of Able Corporation in its move to enter the international market would include the use of charts and graphs in mapping its operating principles. The main concerns of the company in its expansion would involve the following:
Promise of delivery of the best and high quality products to its clients.
Dedication to building the company’s long term value.
Responsibility and ethical approaches to its mode of providing services.
The company would greatly benefit from dedicating itself to building a long lasting and solid relationship with its clients through the provision of reliable products in meeting the demands of the international market. Information about the company can be derived from a SWOT analysis of its current status. Generally speaking, the company’s strength and weaknesses provide the main internal factors the affect its organization and at the same time its opportunities and threats are the external factors that affect or have an impact on its organization. An evaluation of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats with regard to a company’s competitors in the same industry can be useful in determining its position and in developing strategies. This information can be garnered from the existing conditions of its competitors like the Smith and White Corporation and Makatume in the U.S PEPT industry.
The principle I would use in the implementation steps to achieve strategic objectives would involve an evaluation of short-term operations and long-term goals. As described in the mission and vision statements of the company, the major concern would be forward looking statements of the firm that are aimed at achieving its strategic goals. For example I might look at the expectations of the company in one year and what it hopes to achieve within that period. Such an evaluation shows that the company has to meet two major goals in lieu of the issues plaguing it in order to improve its overall rating. These two major goals involve focusing on the international market and ways of improving its financial status. Its long term goals would involve a five year outlook in the market analysis and improvement on quality of its tools manufacture. A ten year outlook should focus on increased market share and profitability. These are the major strategic objectives I would focus on during implementation.
For post implementation and regular feedback, I would rely on two mechanisms namely the sales forecasting and the SWOT analysis. These two measures would be important in analyzing how Able Corporation would fare in the international market against its competitors. Business Link (2009) describes a sales forecast as “an essential tool for managing a business of any size” (p. 2). Every company needs to have a monthly analysis of its core markets in order to discover whenever a need arises but in the case of Able Corporation would include an annual analysis of comparable forecasting. Forecasting of future sales for this company would include an evaluation of how economic factors of the industry stand to negatively affect its major sales. For example an increase in utility rates such as gas and electricity would mean consumers will buy fewer power tools which will adversely affect profits. Performance of the housing market will also have an impact on power tools sales just like the other household items because with reduced construction of homes, the sale of equipments will also drastically drop.
The other measure I would use as a feedback mechanism would be the SWOT analysis of the company in the post implementation phase. According to Bateman and Snell (2003), the identification of opportunities and barriers in both the external and internal environment is helpful in providing information to “formulate corporate, business, and functional strategies of the organization” (p. 122). A SWOT analysis is therefore necessary in providing a comparison of the firm’s strengths and weaknesses against the existing opportunities and threats it faces. It can thus capitalize on opportunities in order to grow and minimize the threats it faces in a competitive environment. The circular saw market, for instance, is one of Able Corporation’s strength while a lack of understanding of marketing in its core industry and moderate tool quality are its major weaknesses. Therefore a market analysis would be quite helpful in the post implementation period. However, a good plan does not necessarily guarantee a successful implantation of the business plan (Drejer, 2002). It would therefore be important to use tools and resources in the organizational structure. This might include feedback from human resources, the company’s IT department, and other forms of technology used in the firm.
There will be legal and ethical issues to be considered. These will involve corporate ethics that will guide the company’s moral issues in its operations within the business environment. For example the company will be obligated to laws and business ethics that have been put in place to ensure that its products, power tools in this case, do not cause harm to the consumers and are able to be processed safely. The laws will ensure that there are no defective and inherently harmful products released to the consumers. There will also be an ethical responsibility of the company to the environment, use of emerging technology, and in product testing.
References
Bateman, T. & Snell, S. (2003). Management: The New Competitive Landscape (6th Ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Companies.
Beech, W. M. (1997, September). Before Hanging out Your Shingle . Create a Business Plan, It Can Be Your Road Map to Success. Black Enterprise, 28, 29. Retrieved from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5000472529.
Business Link. (2008). Forecast and plan your sales. Retrieved fromhttp://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/layer?topicId=1073901350
Drejer, A. (2002). Strategic Management and Core Competencies: Theory and Application.Westport, CT: Quorum Books. Retrieved from Questia database:http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=101317980
Docmario. (2001). He boiled frog phenomenon. Retrieved fromhttp://docmario.wordpress.com/the-boiled-frog-phenomenon/
Kotler, P., & Keller, K.L. (2006). Marketing Management (12th Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ:Pearson-Prentice Hall.
the length of the story in the New York Times clearly indicates the difference between the coverage content and emphasis of the two media houses. The heading itself; ‘With Tea Party in Mind
Republicans Have Change of Heart About Earmarks’