Applied Psychology
Intro:
Psychology is mainly defined to be the study of peoples’ behavioral and mental processes. The meaning of this definition is the fact that peoples’ actions are studied based upon their brain activity representing why they performed those specific actions. Psychology is crucial to humanity in the sense that it is able to analyze people in a deeper way by correlating their actions to the way their very own body and brain function together. This is important since it allows for people to distinguish between severe medical conditions and alterations to their brain chemistry. Something that becomes more beneficial to psychology is the fact that there are multiple fields of psychology such as social, biological, developmental, etc. This means that there are multiple approaches that can be used to analyze someone’s actions and behaviors as well as multiple therapies that can resolve any psychological disorders.
When it comes to the issue of environmental racism, the inequality placed upon the poor and people of color has become a large stress agent. One disorder that has been said to have developed due to the stress of living near industrial activity such as a coal burning power plant is “neighborhood disorder—which can be defined as the repeated violation of neighborhood norms within neighborhood boundaries— [and] increases psychological distress by continually reminding neighborhood residents that they live in unsafe, unhealthy environments” (Downey, "Environmental Stressors: The Mental Health Impacts of Living Near Industrial Activity"). Neighborhood disorder has also been classified as a social disorder since the facilities are purposely placed in undesirable communities creating pollution in them and harming the people living in the area while it does not even benefit the community in any way. Since living in such communities people have developed “feelings of personal powerlessness” since they have “the inability to escape disorderly neighborhoods, exert control over dangerous or undesirable conditions, and influence decisions affecting neighborhood order” (Downey, "Environmental Stressors: The Mental Health Impacts of Living Near Industrial Activity"). The feeling of powerlessness develops due to people feeling as if they cannot create a change towards stopping the purposeful placement of environmentally hazardous facilities in low-income communities. Environmental Racism has clearly developed into a chronic stressor to people as it causes psychological distress.
Concepts:
*Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is one concept that can explain why corporations decided to place environmentally hazardous facilities in low-income communities. Corporations were mainly concerned with safety and security so they had to assure themselves that their facilities would bring them money. In my opinion they must have not cared who lived in the area where they placed their facilities as long as they made the most profits in that area. The necessity to have security and safety in the sense of money was the leading component to why environmental racism globalized.
*Avoidance-avoidance conflicts can explain the reason why environmental racism has become such a huge distress to people living in communities with hazardous facilities in close proximity to them. These people suffer from being stuck in the middle of two negative options one being continuing to live in a polluted area or continuing to fight for environmental justice when there has been little success due to their social status and connections to the government. The people living in these communities have no choice but to continue suffering in the pollution and injustice while worrying for their as well as their families overall health.
Approaches:
*One approach that can help corporations see what they are doing is wrong is the Cognitive Approach. This approach will allow the reconstruction of how these corporations think and decide where to locate their facilities. By reconstructing their way of thinking they can see that their thought processes have been faulty in the sense that they do not consider the people who live in the area where they locate their facilities.
*One approach that can help the people living in the communities that suffer from environmental injustice is the Humanistic Approach. This approach will help these people to realize their self-worth and gain the confidence to stand up for their environmental rights. Once they gain such confidence they will no longer feel so stressed about continuing to live in polluted areas. Their confidence will free their voice which will bring them to peace as they know they are fighting for something important and should not give up because they deserve environmental justice.
Conclusion:
The field of psychology can be used to positively change the world by helping people reconstruct their ways of thinking. Reconstruction of thought processes will benefit people to distinguish what they want and what they actually need, which will result in them choosing their actions more wisely. The change in the way a person thinks can also benefit people t realize their importance in the world, which will give them the confidence to want to make a positive change in the world. Being in AP Psychology has truly taught me the significance of my actions and the ways I can change them by understanding the many ways my brain works. I now know of the many influences there are in the world which can affect the way I think and now that I am more aware it will benefit me to be more conscious of my decisions.
Psychology is mainly defined to be the study of peoples’ behavioral and mental processes. The meaning of this definition is the fact that peoples’ actions are studied based upon their brain activity representing why they performed those specific actions. Psychology is crucial to humanity in the sense that it is able to analyze people in a deeper way by correlating their actions to the way their very own body and brain function together. This is important since it allows for people to distinguish between severe medical conditions and alterations to their brain chemistry. Something that becomes more beneficial to psychology is the fact that there are multiple fields of psychology such as social, biological, developmental, etc. This means that there are multiple approaches that can be used to analyze someone’s actions and behaviors as well as multiple therapies that can resolve any psychological disorders.
When it comes to the issue of environmental racism, the inequality placed upon the poor and people of color has become a large stress agent. One disorder that has been said to have developed due to the stress of living near industrial activity such as a coal burning power plant is “neighborhood disorder—which can be defined as the repeated violation of neighborhood norms within neighborhood boundaries— [and] increases psychological distress by continually reminding neighborhood residents that they live in unsafe, unhealthy environments” (Downey, "Environmental Stressors: The Mental Health Impacts of Living Near Industrial Activity"). Neighborhood disorder has also been classified as a social disorder since the facilities are purposely placed in undesirable communities creating pollution in them and harming the people living in the area while it does not even benefit the community in any way. Since living in such communities people have developed “feelings of personal powerlessness” since they have “the inability to escape disorderly neighborhoods, exert control over dangerous or undesirable conditions, and influence decisions affecting neighborhood order” (Downey, "Environmental Stressors: The Mental Health Impacts of Living Near Industrial Activity"). The feeling of powerlessness develops due to people feeling as if they cannot create a change towards stopping the purposeful placement of environmentally hazardous facilities in low-income communities. Environmental Racism has clearly developed into a chronic stressor to people as it causes psychological distress.
Concepts:
*Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is one concept that can explain why corporations decided to place environmentally hazardous facilities in low-income communities. Corporations were mainly concerned with safety and security so they had to assure themselves that their facilities would bring them money. In my opinion they must have not cared who lived in the area where they placed their facilities as long as they made the most profits in that area. The necessity to have security and safety in the sense of money was the leading component to why environmental racism globalized.
*Avoidance-avoidance conflicts can explain the reason why environmental racism has become such a huge distress to people living in communities with hazardous facilities in close proximity to them. These people suffer from being stuck in the middle of two negative options one being continuing to live in a polluted area or continuing to fight for environmental justice when there has been little success due to their social status and connections to the government. The people living in these communities have no choice but to continue suffering in the pollution and injustice while worrying for their as well as their families overall health.
Approaches:
*One approach that can help corporations see what they are doing is wrong is the Cognitive Approach. This approach will allow the reconstruction of how these corporations think and decide where to locate their facilities. By reconstructing their way of thinking they can see that their thought processes have been faulty in the sense that they do not consider the people who live in the area where they locate their facilities.
*One approach that can help the people living in the communities that suffer from environmental injustice is the Humanistic Approach. This approach will help these people to realize their self-worth and gain the confidence to stand up for their environmental rights. Once they gain such confidence they will no longer feel so stressed about continuing to live in polluted areas. Their confidence will free their voice which will bring them to peace as they know they are fighting for something important and should not give up because they deserve environmental justice.
Conclusion:
The field of psychology can be used to positively change the world by helping people reconstruct their ways of thinking. Reconstruction of thought processes will benefit people to distinguish what they want and what they actually need, which will result in them choosing their actions more wisely. The change in the way a person thinks can also benefit people t realize their importance in the world, which will give them the confidence to want to make a positive change in the world. Being in AP Psychology has truly taught me the significance of my actions and the ways I can change them by understanding the many ways my brain works. I now know of the many influences there are in the world which can affect the way I think and now that I am more aware it will benefit me to be more conscious of my decisions.
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