The intention of this essay is to explore the area surrounding how cognitive psychology has affected or disaffected policing practices and the positive or negative outcomes of it. To do this, a deeper understanding of the terms cognitive and psychology, along with their interactive relationship had to be expounded.
The scope of cognitive psychology is vast in relation to the public and police, particularly due to the fact that it is an individual process with many external mitigating factors. Therefore I have attempted to narrow the field and concentrate on a couple of specific examples of the use of cognitive psychology, while attempting to explain the theories behind the processes.
What is psychology? In basic terms it is simply the study of the mind, but that very general description has a much wider application as the psychology of today differs from that of two centuries ago. Psychology as a discipline dates back to the nineteenth century when a philosopher named William Wundt opened the first psychology laboratory at a German university. What Wundt and his co-workers attempted to do was to investigate the mind through introspection, which was observing and analysing the structure of the subjects conscious mental processes, (Thoughts, images and feelings), under controlled conditions. Today's psychology has dramatically changed and is now focused on how ones behaviour changes as a result of experience.
Cognitive means to learn, to observe, to experience. When applied to psychology it is further broken down into how that particular learning observations and experience directs a person's development. Factors such as physical, emotional, educational and behavioural cognitive (copycat learning) are influenced by parents...
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Psychology is a social science that aims to study the mind and the behaviors of humans. It aims to understand what drives humans to act the way they do. It differs from sociology and anthropology in that it takes accounts the individual rather than society as a whole.
Cognitive psychology is deeply rooted in our legal system and forms the element or standard of almost all crimes and civil misconduct. An understanding of psychology, in particular cognitive psychology, aids jurors, attorneys, defendants, prosecutors, and judges in the process of the legal system specially where adjudicating guilt or liability. In addition, cognitive psychology comes into play where the legal system relies on witness testimony when adjudicating a case.
Daly, Kathleen, Goldsmith, Andrew, and Israel, Mark. 2006, Crime and Justice: A guide to criminology, third addition, Thomson, Lawbook Co.
It is a myth to believe that an officers job is spend fighting dangerous crimes, in reality officers spend more time handing smaller cases. For example, police officers spend a lot of time doing daily tasks such as giving speeding tickets and being mediators in disputes (Kappeler & Potter, 2005). Handing out speeding tickers and handling minor disputes are far from fighting crime. Police officers spend more time doing preventive measures (Kappeler & Potter, 2005). Preventive measures involve officers intervening to prevent further altercations. Victor Kappeler and Gary Potter discussed the myth of crime fighting as invalid and misleading notions of an officer’s employment.
Eysenck, H.J., & Gudjonsson, G.H. (1989). The causes and cures of criminality. Contemporary Psychology, 36, 575-577.
Wilson, James and Herrnstein, Richard. "Crime & Human Nature: The Definitive Study of the Causes of Crime" New York: Free Press, 1998.
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Maguire, M., Morgan, R., and Reiner, R. (2012) The Oxford Handbook of Criminology. 5th ed. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.
Common sense is an ability to receive, interpret, and judge a situation reasonably. Common sense has a direct correlation to the discretion a law enforcement officer will utilize throughout their career. This paper will discuss a few aspects of the law enforcement profession that relates to mechanisms emplaced to deal with discretion: internal control mechanisms, external control mechanisms, citizen control m...
The term psychology has many meanings to different people, even to those who work within the psychological field. The word psychology derives from two Greek roots; 'psyche' refers to 'soul' or 'mind' and logo refers to 'the study of'. A more update definition of the word psychology can be found from Atkinson, et al (1991) “The scientific study of behaviours and mental processes.” However on Google Definitions the definition of psychology is “the mental characteristics and attitudes of a person” [accessed 16 September 2011], which gives somewhat of a contradiction. In this assignment I will be outlining and evaluating four key psychological perspectives. The psychological perspectives I have chosen are the behavioural approach, biological approach, cognitive approach and the psychodynamic approach.
This essay will contain the ways policing modern society changed throughout the years, and it will show the differences between problem-oriented policing and community policing. It will also show how communities felt safer.
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior and translates as science of the soul. It is the study of human behavior and deals with how we think, feel, and act. Some areas of psychology are clinical, industrial, physiological, experimental, personality, social, and developmental. Psychologists can work in hospitals, schools, rehabilitation facilities, in public and private clinics or in the research field. They usually treat persons with mental and emotional disorders, so one may ask; why bother with psychology if you do not want to actually work as a psychologist? Even though it happens that i do want to study psychology, this year that i was introduced to it,i discovered that even if i wanted to study something entirely different, psychology would still be useful to me. So when studying psychology, you learn about human nature. This means that psychology actually has impact on every aspect in life. It helps see through the motives other people too have more importantly, it will help you to understand your own motives better. As a result
Human beings are incredibly social creatures. They are brought into a social setting as soon as they are born. People influence the individuals around them. But the individuals around the person can affect them too. This paper will look at the definition of social psychology, how social psychology can be applied to law enforcement, and have an example of social research benefiting law enforcement. Social psychology is a division within psychology that covers how a person's thoughts, behaviors, and feelings are affected by social situations, society, and social conditions (Fiske,2014). The people around them influence most people's behavior. A person may behave one way to a situation when they are by themselves
Psychology started, and had a long history, as a topic within the fields of philosophy and physiology. It then became an independent field of its own through the work of the German Wilhelm Wundt, the founder of experimental psychology and structuralism. Wundt stressed the use of scientific methods in psychology, particularly through the use of introspection. In 1875, a room was set-aside for Wundt for demonstrations in what we now call sensation and perception. This is the same year that William James set up a similar lab at Harvard. Wilhelm Wundt and William James are usually thought of as the fathers of psychology, as well as the founders of psychology?s first two great ?schools? Structuralism and Functionalism. Psychologist Edward B Titchner said; ?to study the brain and the unconscious we should break it into its structural elements, after that we can construct it into a whole and understand what it does.? (psicafe.com)
Psychology deals with the study of mental processes and a variety of behaviors. In order to fully comprehend ourselves, we need to understand the causes of our behaviors and our outlook on life. Habits and behaviors have positive and negative effects in our life. When we know ourselves and learn about our unique personality, we can develop and pursue goals. Psychology also helps us to understand other people and the differences of people. Gaining this knowledge can improve the relationships and enhance our communication skills. Throughout the psychology course I gained knowledge in various areas, and the topics that impacted me the most included: the introvert, anxiety disorders, stress management, self discipline and how to develop strong relationships.