`

ISABELA STATE UNIVERSITY

University for People, Nature, Entrepreneurship & Innovation

Unit 2: CRIM PROF 328 Human Behaviour and Victimology

Module 2: Human Behaviour and coping mechanisms

Introduction: This chapter specifies the different coping mechanisms of an individual’s human development
Specifically mental states in which is deeply affects the human mind set in dealing with different
Perks of life and various situations.

Objectives:
1. Briefly discuss the essence of temperament to human behaviour development
2. Identify the different coping mechanism and defence mechanisms
3. Understand the Psychological studies that relates to crime and delinquencies or deviant acts

Discussion Proper

Temperament
Temperament refers to the fundamental groundwork of character generally presumed to be biologically
determined and existent early in life inclusive of traits like emotional reactiveness, energy level, reaction tempo and
motivation to explore.

Four Types of Temperament

• Melancholic – sad, gloomy
• Choleric - hot-tempered, irritable
• Phlegmatic - sluggish, calm
• Sanguine - cheerful, hopeful

Causes of Conflict in Human behavior

 Physical Causes 
Refer to natural causes, like a typhoon, an earthquake, a fire, a flood, a storm.
 Social Conflicts 
Involve restrictions or rules in the home, in school, in the community.
 Economic Conflicts 
Result from one’s inability to acquire material things because of poverty or other financial obligations.

Psychological studies in relation to crime and delinquency

1. August Aichorn Aichorn in his book entitled Wayward Youth (1925) said that cause of crime and delinquency
is the faulty development of the child due the first few years of his life. The child as a human being normally
follows only his pleasure impulse instinctive. Soon the child grows up and finds some restrictions to these
pleasure impulses which he/she must control. Otherwise, he/she suffers from faulty ego-development and
become delinquent. He/she then concluded that many of the offenders with whom he/she had worked had
underdeveloped consciences.
Aichorn identified 2 further categories of criminal:
1. Those with fully developed conscience but identified with their criminal parents.
2. Those who had been allowed to do whatever they like by over-indulgent parents.
 2. Cyril Burt (Young Delinquent, 1925) Burt gives the theory of General Emotionality. According to him many
offenses can be traced to either in excess or a deficiency of a particular instinct which accounts for the
tendency of many criminals to be weak willed or easily led. Fear and absconding may be due to the impulse
of fear. Callous type of offenders may be due to the deficiency in the primitive emotion of love and an
excuse of the instinct of hate.

3. William Healy (Individual Delinquency, 1916) He claimed that crime is an expression of the mental content
of the individual. Frustration of the individual causes emotional discomfort; personality demands removal of
pain, and pain is eliminated by substitute behavior, that is, crime delinquency of the individual. Healy and
Bonner (1936) conducted a study of 105 pairs of brothers where one was a persistent offender and the
other a non-offender. It was found that only 19 of the offenders and 30 of the non-offenders had
experienced good quality family conditions. These findings suggested that circumstances within a household
may be favorable for one child but not the sibling. It then proposed that the latter had not made an
emotional attachment to a "good parent", hence impeding the development of superego.

4. Walter Bromberg (Crime and the Mind, 1946) He noted that criminality is the result of emotional immaturity.
A person is emotionally matured if he has learned to control his emotion effectively and who lives at peace
with himself and harmony with the standards of conduct which are acceptable to society. An emotionally
immature person rebels against rules and regulations, engages in usual activities and experiences a feeling
of guilt due to inferiority complex.

Cognitive Development Theory (Jean Piaget)

Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development suggests that children move through four different stages of
mental development. His theory focuses not only on understanding how children acquire knowledge, but also on
understanding the nature of intelligence.

 Sensorimotor (5tth to 2 years) The child learns by doing: looking, touching, sucking. The child also has a
primitive understanding of cause-and-effect relationships. Object performance appears around 9 months.
 Preoperational (2 years to 7 years) The child uses language and symbols, including letters and numbers.
 Concrete Operational (7years to 11 years) The child demonstrates conservation, reversibility, serial ordering,
and a mature understanding of cause-and-effect relationships.
 Formal Operational (12 years and up) The individual demonstrates abstract thinking, including logic,
deductive reasoning, comparison, and classification.

Piaget believed that children take an active role in the learning process, acting much like little scientists as
they perform experiments, make observations, and learn about the world. As kids interact with the world around
them, they continually add new knowledge, build upon existing knowledge, and adapt previously held ideas to
accommodate new information.

Psychological studies in relation to crime and delinquency

5. August Aichorn Aichorn in his book entitled Wayward Youth (1925) said that cause of crime and delinquency
is the faulty development of the child due the first few years of his life. The child as a human being normally
follows only his pleasure impulse instinctive. Soon the child grows up and finds some restrictions to these
pleasure impulses which he/she must control. Otherwise, he/she suffers from faulty ego-development and
become delinquent. He/she then concluded that many of the offenders with whom he/she had worked had
underdeveloped consciences.
Aichorn identified 2 further categories of criminal:
1. Those with fully developed conscience but identified with their criminal parents.
2. Those who had been allowed to do whatever they like by over-indulgent parents.

6. Cyril Burt (Young Delinquent, 1925) Burt gives the theory of General Emotionality. According to him many
offenses can be traced to either in excess or a deficiency of a particular instinct which accounts for the
 tendency of many criminals to be weak willed or easily led. Fear and absconding may be due to the impulse
of fear. Callous type of offenders may be due to the deficiency in the primitive emotion of love and an
excuse of the instinct of hate.

7. William Healy (Individual Delinquency, 1916) He claimed that crime is an expression of the mental content
of the individual. Frustration of the individual causes emotional discomfort; personality demands removal of
pain, and pain is eliminated by substitute behavior, that is, crime delinquency of the individual. Healy and
Bonner (1936) conducted a study of 105 pairs of brothers where one was a persistent offender and the
other a non-offender. It was found that only 19 of the offenders and 30 of the non-offenders had
experienced good quality family conditions. These findings suggested that circumstances within a household
may be favorable for one child but not the sibling. It then proposed that the latter had not made an
emotional attachment to a "good parent", hence impeding the development of superego.

8. Walter Bromberg (Crime and the Mind, 1946) He noted that criminality is the result of emotional immaturity.
A person is emotionally matured if he has learned to control his emotion effectively and who lives at peace
with himself and harmony with the standards of conduct which are acceptable to society. An emotionally
immature person rebels against rules and regulations, engages in usual activities and experiences a feeling
of guilt due to inferiority complex.

Cognitive Development Theory (Jean Piaget)

Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development suggests that children move through four different stages of
mental development. His theory focuses not only on understanding how children acquire knowledge, but also on
understanding the nature of intelligence.

 Sensorimotor (5tth to 2 years) The child learns by doing: looking, touching, sucking. The child also has a
primitive understanding of cause-and-effect relationships. Object performance appears around 9 months.
 Preoperational (2 years to 7 years) The child uses language and symbols, including letters and numbers.
 Concrete Operational (7years to 11 years) The child demonstrates conservation, reversibility, serial ordering,
and a mature understanding of cause-and-effect relationships.
 Formal Operational (12 years and up) The individual demonstrates abstract thinking, including logic,
deductive reasoning, comparison, and classification.

Piaget believed that children take an active role in the learning process, acting much like little scientists as
they perform experiments, make observations, and learn about the world. As kids interact with the world around
them, they continually add new knowledge, build upon existing knowledge, and adapt previously held ideas to
accommodate new information.

ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR

Abnormal Behavior is something deviating from the normal or differing from the typical, is a subjectively
defined behavioral characteristic, assigned to those with rare or dysfunctional conditions. It may be abnormal when it
is unusual, socially unacceptable, self-defeating, dangerous, or suggestive of faulty interpretation of reality or of
personal distress.

Psychopathology is the scientific study of mental disorders, including efforts to understand their genetic,
biological, psychological, and social causes; effective classification schemes (nosology); course across all stages of
development; manifestations; and treatment. It is also defined as the origin of mental disorders, how they develop,
and the symptoms they might produce in a person.

The 4 Ds A description of the four Ds when defining abnormality:

1. Deviance –
This term describes the idea that specific thoughts, behaviors, and emotions are considered deviant when
they are unacceptable or not common in society. Clinicians must, however, remember that minority groups are
not always deemed deviant just because they may not have anything in common with other groups. Therefore,
 we define an individual's actions as deviant or abnormal when his or her behavior is deemed unacceptable by
the culture he or she belongs.
2. Distress –
This term accounts for negative feelings by the individual with the disorder. He or she may feel deeply
troubled and affected by their illness.

3. Dysfunction-
This term involves maladaptive behavior that impairs the individual's ability to perform normal daily
functions, such as getting ready for work in the morning, or driving a car. Such maladaptive behaviors prevent
the individual from living a normal, healthy lifestyle. However, dysfunctional behavior is not always caused by a
disorder; it may be voluntary, such as engaging in a hunger strike.
4. Danger –
This term involves dangerous or violent behavior directed at the individual, or others in the environment. An
example of dangerous behaved that may suggest a psychological disorder is engaging in suicidal activity."

Identification of Abnormal Behavior

Deviation from Statistical Norm

The word abnormal means 'away from the norm'. Many population facts are measured such as height,
weight and intelligence. Most of the people fall within the middle range of intelligence, but a few are abnormally
stupid. But according to this definition, a person who is extremely intelligent should be classified as abnormal.

Examples are:
a. Intelligence- It is statistically abnormal for a person to get a score about 145 on an IQ
test or to
get a score below 55, but only the lowest score is considered abnormal.
b. Anxiety - A person who is anxious all the time or has a high level of anxiety and someone
who
almost never feels anxiety are all considered to be abnormal.

Deviation from Social Norm

Every culture has certain standards for acceptable behavior; behavior that deviates from that standard is
considered to be abnormal behavior. But those standards can change with time and vary from one society to
another.

Maladaptive Behavior

This third criterion is how the behavior affects the well-being of the individual and/or social group. A man
who attempts suicide or a paranoid individual who tries to assassinate national leaders are illustrations under this
criterion.

The two aspects of maladaptive behavior are:

a. Maladaptive to One's self - It refers to the inability of a person to reach goals or to adapt the demands
of
life.
b. Maladaptive to Society - It refers to a person's obstruction or disruption to social group functioning.

Personal Distress

The fourth criterion considers abnormality in terms of the individual's subjective feelings, personal distress,
rather than his behavior. Most people commonly diagnosed as 'mentally ill' feel miserable, anxious, depressed and
may suffer from insomnia.
 Failure to Function Adequately Under this definition, a person is considered abnormal if they are unable to
cope with the demands of everyday life. They may be unable to perform the behaviors necessary for day-to day
living e.g. self-care, hold down a job, interact meaningfully with others, make themselves understood etc.

The following characteristics that define failure to function adequately:

a. suffering,
b. maladaptiveness (danger to self),
c. vividness and unconventionality (stand out),
d. unpredictably and loss of control,
e. irrationality/incomprehensibility,
f. causes observer discomfort, and
g. violates moral/social standards.

Deviation from Ideal Mental Health

Under this concept, rather than defining what is abnormal, we define what is normal/ideal and anything
that deviates from this is regarded as abnormal. This requires us to decide on the characteristics we consider
necessary to mental health.

The six criteria by which mental health could be measured are as follows:

a. positive view of the self,

b. capability for growth and development,
c. autonomy and independence,
d. accurate perception of reality,
e. positive friendships and relationships,
f. environmental mastery (able to meet the varying demands of day to-day situations).

Symptoms of Abnormal Behavior

1. Long Periods of Discomfort This could be anything as simple as worrying about a calculus test or grieving the
death of a loved one. This distress is related to a real, related, or threatened event and passes with time. When such
distressing feelings, however, persist for an extended period of time and seem to be unrelated to events surrounding
the person, they would be considered abnormal and could suggest a psychological disorder.

2. Impaired Functioning Here, a distinction must be made between simply a passing period of inefficiency and
prolonged inefficiency which seems unexplainable. For instance, a very brilliant person consistently fails in his classes
or someone who constantly changes his jobs for no apparent reason.

3. Bizarre Behavior Bizarre behavior that has no rational basis seems to indicate that the individual is confused. The
psychoses frequently result in hallucinations (baseless sensory perceptions) or delusions (beliefs which are patently
false yet held as true by the individual).

4. Disruptive Behavior Disruptive behavior means impulsive, apparently uncontrollable behavior that disrupts the lives
of others or deprives them of their human rights on a regular basis. This type of behavior is characteristic of a severe
psychological disorder. An example of this is the antisocial personality disorder.

MENTAL DISORDER

Mental Disorder- refers to the significant impairment in psychological functioning. It is also called a mental illness or
psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal
functioning.

Mental Retardation
 MR is a condition of limited ability in which an individual has a low Intelligence Quotient (IQ), usually below
70 on a traditional intelligence test, and has difficulty adapting to everyday life; he/she first exhibited these
characteristics during the so-called developmental period - by age 18.

Mental Retardation is a developmental disability that first appears in children under the age of 18. It is
defined as a level of intellectual functioning (as measured by standard intelligence tests) that is well below average
and results in significant limitations in the person's daily living skills (adaptive functioning). Adaptive skills are a term
that refers to skills needed for daily life.

Such skills include:

a. the ability to produce and understand language (communication);
b. home-living skills;
c. use of community resources;
d. health, safety, leisure, self- care, and social skills;
e. self-direction;
f. functional academic skills (reading, writing, and arithmetic);
g. job-related skills.

Four Different Degrees of Mental Retardation

 Mild Mental Retardation Approximately 85% of the mentally retarded population is in the mildly retarded
category. Their IQ score ranges from 50-70, and they can often acquire academic skills up to about the
sixth-grade level. They can become fairly self-sufficient and, in some cases, live independently, with
community and social support.

 Moderate Mental Retardation About 10% of the mentally retarded population is considered moderately
retarded. Moderately retarded persons have IQ scores ranging from 35-55. They can carry out work and
self-care tasks with moderate supervision. They typically acquire communication skills in childhood and are
able to live and function successfully within the community in such supervised environments as group
homes.

 Severe Mental Retardation About 3-4% of the mentally retarded population is severely retarded. Severely
retarded persons have IQ scores of 20-40. They may master very basic self-care skills and some
communication skills. Many severely retarded individuals are able to live in a group home.

 Profound Mental Retardation Only 1-2% of the mentally retarded population is classified as profoundly
retarded. Profoundly retarded individuals have IQ scores under 20-25. They may be able to develop basic
self-care and communication skills with appropriate support and training. Their retardation is often caused
by an accompanying neurological disorder. Profoundly retarded people need a high level of structure and
supervision.

Causes and Symptoms of mental retardation

Low IQ scores and limitations in adaptive skills are the hallmarks of mental retardation. Aggression, self-injury, and
mood disorders are sometimes associated with the disability. The severity of the symptoms and the age at which
they first appear depend on the cause.

Children who are mentally retarded reach developmental milestones significantly later than expected, if at all. If
retardation is caused by chromosomal or other genetic disorders, it is often apparent from infancy.

If retardation is caused by childhood illnesses or injuries, learning and adaptive skills that were once easy may
suddenly become difficult to master. Biological and environmental factors that can cause mental retardation include:

 Genetic factors
 Prenatal illness and issues
 Childhood illness and injuries
 Environmental factors
CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR AND INTELLIGENCE

Criminal Behavior refers to a behavior which is criminal in nature; a behavior which violates a law. Thus, the
moment a person violates the law, he has already committed [exhibited] criminal behavior. Criminal behaviour refers
to conduct of an offender that leads to and including the commission of an unlawful act. According to Goldoozian, for
human behavior to be considered crime,

Three elements are necessary:

o Legally, the criminal act should be prohibited by law.
o Materially, the criminal act should be executed or realized.
o Spiritually, the criminal act should be accompanied by criminal intention or guilt.

Origins of Criminal Behavior

1. Biological Factor Heredity as a factor implies that criminal acts are unavoidable, inevitable
consequences of the bad seed or bad blood. It emphasizes genetic predisposition toward
antisocial and criminal conduct.
The following are some studies and theories related to biological causes of crime:
a. Born Criminal (Cesare Lombroso)
b. Physique and Somatotype (Ernst Kretschmer & William Sheldon)
c. Juke and Kallikak (Richard Dugdale & Henry Goddard)
2. Personality Disorder Factor Personality disorder factor refers to an act that exhibits a
pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of others that begins childhood
or early adolescence and continues into adulthood such as Social Personality Disorder
(Psychoanalytic Theory-Sigmund Freud).
3. Learning Factor Learning factor explains that criminal behavior is learned primarily by
observing or listening to people around us. The following are related learning theories, to
wit:
a. Differential Association Theory (Edwin Sutherland)
b. Imitation Theory (Gabriel Tarde)
c. Identification Theory (Daniel Classer)

Human Intelligence

Human intelligence is understood as a compilation of brain-based cognitive abilities. This reflects a very
general mental capability that involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problem, think abstractly, comprehend
complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn from experiences

Criminal Law and Intelligence

McNaughton (M'Naghten) Rule

In 1724 an English court maintained that a man was not responsible for an act if ""he does not know what
he is doing, no more... a wild beast". Modern standards of legal responsibility, however, have been based on the
McNaughton decision of 1843. The formal insanity defense has its beginnings in 1843, when Daniel McNaughton tried
to kill Robert Peel, the British prime minister (he shot and killed his secretary instead). At his trial, McNaughten
testified that he believed that the British government was plotting against him, and he was acquitted of murder.

The McNaughton Rule requires that a criminal defendant

(1) not know what he was doing at the time or
(2) not know that his actions were wrong (because of his delusional belief, McNaughton thought he was
defending himself. The Rule created a presumption of sanity, unless the defense proved "at the time of committing
the act, the accused was laboring under such a defect of reason, from disease of the mind, as not to know the
nature and quality of the act he was doing or, if he did know it, that he did not know what he was doing was wrong."
This rule was adopted in the US, and the distinction of knowing right from wrong remained the basis for most
decisions of legal insanity.

What is the Durham Rule

The Durham rule states that, "an accused is not criminally responsible if his unlawful act is the product of
mental disease or mental defect." Some States added to their statutes this doctrine which is also known as
"irresistible impulse" recognizing some ill individuals may respond correctly, but may be unable to control their
behavior. In the United States, the next advance in the insanity defense was The Durham Rule or "product test"
adopted in 1954, which states that "... an accused is not criminally responsible if his unlawful act was the product of
mental disease or defect". This "product test" was overturned in 1972, largely because its ambiguous reference to
"mental disease or defect" places undue emphasis on subjective judgments by psychiatrists, and can easily lead to a
"battle of the experts". Many states now adopt a version of guidelines set out by the America Law Institute in 1962,
which allows the insanity defense if, by virtue of mental illness, the defendant
(1) lacks the ability to understand the meaning of their act or
(2) cannot control their impulses. This is sometimes known as the "irresistible impulse test".

ALI "Substantial Capacity" Test

The Test was integrated by the American Law Institute (ALI) in its Model Penal Code Test, which improved
on the M'Naghten and irresistible impulse tests. The new rule stated that a person is not responsible for his criminal
act if, as a result of the mental disease or defect, he lacks substantial capacity to appreciate the criminality of his act
or to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law.

Still, this test has been criticized for its use of ambiguous words like "substantial capacity" and "appreciate"
as there would be differences in expert testimonies whether the accused's degree of awareness was sufficient.
Objections were also made to the exclusion of psychopaths or persons whose abnormalities are manifested only by
repeated criminal conduct. Critics observed that psychopaths cannot be deterred and thus undeserving of
punishment. In 1984, however, the U.S. Congress repudiated this test in favor of the M'Naghten style statutory
formulation.

It enacted the Comprehensive Crime Control Act which made the appreciation test the law applicable in all
federal courts. The test is similar to M'Naghten as it relies on the cognitive test. The accused is not required to prove
lack of control as in the ALI test. The appreciation test shifted the burden of proof to the defense, limited scope of
expert testimony, eliminated the defense of diminished capacity a provided for commitment of accused found to be
insane.

Insanity and Criminal Law in the Philippines In the Philippines,

the courts have established a more stringent criterion for insanity to be exempting as it is required that
there must be a complete deprivation of intelligence in committing the act, i.e., the accused is deprived of reason; he
acted without the least discernment because there is a complete absence of the power to discern, or that there is a
total deprivation of the will. Mere abnormality of the mental faculties will not exclude imputability.

The issue of insanity is a question of fact for insanity is a condition of the mind, not susceptible of the usual
means of proof. As no man can know what is going on in the mind of another, the state or condition of a person's
mind can only be measured and judged by his behavior.

Establishing the insanity of an accused requires opinion testimony which may be given by a witness, who is
intimately acquainted with the accused, by a witness who has rational basis to conclude that the accused was insane
based on the witness' own perception of the accused, or by a witness who is qualified as an expert, such as a
psychiatrist. The testimony or proof of the accused's insanity must relate to the time preceding or coetaneous with
the commission of the offense with which he is charged.
 The Revised Penal Code Article 12 of the Code exempts a person from criminal liability in consideration of
intelligence: Paragraph
1: Any person who has committed a crime while the said person was imbecile or insane during the
commission. When the imbecile or an insane person has committed an act which the law defines as a felony (delito),
the court shall order his confinement in one of the hospitals or asylums established for persons thus afflicted, which
he shall not be permitted to leave without first obtaining the permission of the same court.
2: A person over nine years of age and under fifteen, unless he has acted with discernment, in which case,
such minor shall be proceeded against in accordance with the provisions of Art. 80 of this Code (Revised Penal
Code).
3: Any person having an age of 9 years old and below. Republic Act 9344 otherwise known as Juvenile
Justice Welfare Act of 2006 rises the criminal exemption from 9 to 15 years old. In addition, a person of this age
totally exempted whether acted with or without discernment during the execution of crime.

EMOTION

Emotion refers to feelings affective responses as a result of physiological arousal, thoughts and beliefs,
subjective evaluation and bodily expression. It is a state characterized by facial expressions, gestures, postures and
subjective feelings. Emotion is associated with mood, temperament, personality, and disposition. The English word
emotion is derived from the French word émouvoir.

This is based on the Latin emovere, where e- (variant of ex-) means 'out' and movere means move. The
related term motivation is also derived from movere.

Theories of Emotion

1. James-Lange Theory by William James and Carl Lange James-Lange theory states that emotion results
from physiological states triggered by stimuli in the environment: emotion occurs after physiological reactions. This
theory and its derivatives states that a changed situation leads to a changed bodily state. As James says, "the
perception of bodily changes as they occur is the emotion." James further claims that, "we feel sad because we cry,
angry because we strike, afraid because we tremble, and neither have we cried, strike, nor tremble because we are
sorry, angry, or fearful, as the case may be." The James-Lange theory has now been all but abandoned by most
scholars.
2. Cannon-Bard Theory by Philip Bard and Walter Cannon This suggests that people feel emotions first and
then act upon them. This is a theory that emotion and physiological reactions occur simultaneously. These actions
include changes in muscular tension, perspiration, etc. The theory was formulated following the introduction of the
James-Lange theory of Emotion in the late 1800s, which alternately suggested that emotion is the result of one's
perception of their reaction or bodily change. Example: I see a man outside my window. I am afraid. I begin to
perspire.
3. Two Factor Theory This theory was provided by Schachter & Singer, in which they posited that emotion is
the cognitive interpretation of a physiological response. For many, this remains the best formulation of emotion. Most
people consider this to be the "common sense" theory to explain physiological changes; their physiology changes as
a result of their emotion.

CONFLICT

Conflict is a stressful condition that occurs when a person must choose between incompatible or
contradictory options, choices, or alternatives. It is a negative emotional state caused by an inability to choose
between two or more incompatible goals or impulse. Conflict is the state in which two or more motives cannot be
satisfied because they interfere with one another.

Types of Conflict

1. Psychological Conflict (Internal Conflict) Psychological conflict could be going on inside the person and no
one would know (instinct may be at odds with values). Freud would say unconscious id battling superego and further
claimed that our personalities are always in conflict.

2. Social Conflict The different kinds of social conflict are:

  Interpersonal Conflict;
 Two individuals me against you;
 Inter-group Struggles-us against them;
 Individual Opposing a Group - me against them, them against me;
 Intra-group Conflict-members of group all against each other on a task.

3. Approach-Avoidance Kinds of approach-avoidance conflict

 Double Approach Conflict – a person is motivated to engage in two desirable activities that cannot
be pursued simultaneously.
 Double Avoidance Conflict - a person faces two undesirable situations in which the avoidance of
one is the exposure to the other resulting to an intense emotion.
 Approach-Avoidance Conflict – a person faces a situation having both a desirable and undesirable
feature.
 Multiple Approach- Avoidance Conflict – a situation in which a choice must be made between two
or more alternatives each of which has both positive and negative features. It is the most difficult
to resolve because the features of each portion are often difficult to compare.

DEPRESSION

Depression is an illness that causes à person to feel sad and hopeless much of the time. It is different from
normal feelings of sadness, grief, or low energy. Anyone can have depression. It often runs in families. But it can
also happen to someone who doesn't have a family history of depression. You can have depression one time or many
times.
Causes of Depression

a. Major events that create stress, such as childbirth or a death in the family.
b. Illnesses, such as arthritis, heart disease, or cancer.
c. Certain medicines, such as steroids or narcotics for pain relief.
d. Drinking alcohol or using illegal drugs.

Symptoms of Depression

a. Think and speak more slowly than normal.

b. Have trouble concentrating, remembering, and making decisions.
c. Have changes in their eating and sleeping habits.
d. Lose interest in things they enjoyed before they were depressed.
e. Have feelings of guilt and hopelessness, wondering if life is worth living.
f. Think a lot about death or suicide.
g. Complain about problems that don't have a physical cause, such as/headache and stomach ache.

What are the Different Forms of Depression?

1. Major Depressive Disorder This is also called major depression. It is characterized by a combination of
symptoms that interfere with a person's ability to work, sleep, study, eat, and enjoy once-pleasurable activities.
Major depression is disabling and prevents a person from functioning normally. An episode of major depression may
occur only once in a person's lifetime, but more often it recurs throughout a person's life.

2. Dysthymic Disorder (or also referred to as Dysthymia) The symptoms do not occur for more than two
months at a time. Generally, this type of depression is described as having persistent but less severe depressive
symptoms than Major Depression. Manifest nearly constant depressed mood for at least 2 years accompanied by at
least two (or more) of the following:
a. Decrease or increase in eating;
b. Difficulty sleeping or increase in sleeping;
c. Low energy or fatigue;
d. Low self-esteem%3;
e. Difficulty concentrating or making decisions;
f. Feeling hopeless.
 3. Psychotic Depression This occurs when a severe depressive illness is accompanied by some form of
psychosis, such as a break with reality, hallucinations, and delusions.

4. Postpartum Depression This is a major depressive episode that occurs after having a baby. A new mother
develops a major depressive episode within one month after delivery. It is estimated that 10 to 15% of women
experience postpartum depression after giving birth. In rare cases, a woman may have a severe form of depression
called postpartum psychosis. She may act strangely, see or hear things that aren't there, and be a danger to herself
and her baby.

5. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)- This is characterized by the onset of a depressive illness during e
winter months, when there is less natural sunlight. The depression generally lifts during spring and summer. SAD
may be effectively treated with light therapy, but nearly half of those with SAD do not respond to alone.
Antidepressant medication and psychotherapy can reduce SAD symptoms, either alone or in combination with light
therapy.

6. Bipolar Disorder This is also called manic-depressive illness, is not as common as major depression or
dysthymia. Bipolar disorder is characterized by cyclical mood changes-from extreme highs (e.g., mania) to extreme
lows (e.g. depression).

7. Endogenous Depression Endogenous means from within the body. This type of depression is defined as
feeling depressed for no apparent reason.

8. Situational Depression or Reactive Depression - This is also known as Adjustment Disorder with
Depressed Mood. Depressive symptoms develop in response to a specific stressful situation or event (e.g. job loss,
relationship ending). These symptoms occur within 3 months of the stressor and lasts no longer than 6 months after
the stressor (or its consequences) has ended. Depression symptoms cause significant distress or impairs usual
functioning (e.g. relationships, work, school) and do not meet the criteria for major depressive disorder.

9. Agitated Depression- This kind of major depressive disorder is characterized by agitation such as physical
and emotional restlessness, irritability and insomnia, which is the opposite of many depressed individuals who have
low energy and feel slowed down physically and mentally inappropriate social behavior. How to Battle Depression? a.
Socializing- eating out, movies, ballgames with family or friends. b. Helping others in need- volunteer work, feeding
the homeless, etc. c. Praying- works for all moods, especially depression.

STRESS

Refers to the consequence of the failure of an organism – human or animal – to respond appropriately to
emotional or physical threats, whether actual or imagined. Stress is a form of the Middle English destresse, derived
via Old French from the Latin stringere, to draw tight. Stress can thought of as any event that strains or exceeds an
individual's ability to cope.

Two Types of Stress

1. Eustress (Positive) Eustress is a word consisting of two parts. The prefix derives from the Greek eu
meaning either well or good. When attached to the word stress, it literally means good stress. It is a stress that is
healthy or gives one a feeling of fulfilment or other positive feelings. Eustress is a process of exploring potential
gains. A stress that enhances function (physical or mental, such as through strength training or challenging work) is
considered eustress.

2. Distress (Negative) Persistent stress that is not resolved through coping or adaption, deemed distress
may lead to anxiety or withdrawal (depression) behavior.

FRUSTRATION

Frustration is a negative emotional state that occurs when one is prevented from reaching a goal.
Frustration is an unpleasant state of tension and heightened sympathetic activity, resulting from a blocked goal.
Frustration is associated with motivation since we won't be frustrated if we were not motivated to achieve the goal.
Frustration may be external or personal.

External frustration is a distress caused by outwardly perceivable conditions that impedes progress toward a
goal. Internal/Personal Frustration is a distress caused by the individual's inner characteristic that impedes progress
toward a goal.

The sources of frustration are as follows:

o Physical Obstacles such as drought, typhoons, flat tire, etc. that prevents a person from doing his
plans or fulfilling his wishes.

o Social Circumstances such as obstacles through the restrictions imposed by other people and
customs and laws of social being.
o Personal Shortcomings such as handicapped by diseases, blindness, deafness or paralysis.
o Conflicts between Motives such as wanting to leave college for a year to try painting, but also
wanting to please one's parents by remaining in school.

Common Responses to Frustration

1. Aggression It refers to any response made with the intent of harming some person or objects. The intentional
infliction may be a physical or psychological ham.

2. Displaced Aggression It refers to the redirecting of aggression to a target other than the actual source of one's
frustration.

3. Scapegoating It refers to the act of blaming a person or group people for condition not of their making.

4. Escape It is the act of reducing discomfort by leaving frustrating situation or by psychologically withdrawing from
them such as apathy (pretending not to care) or illegal drug use.

COPING MECHANISM and DEFENSE MECHANISM

Coping mechanisms are the sum total of ways in which people deal with minor to major stress and trauma. Some of
these processes are unconscious ones, others are learned behaviour, and still others are skills that individuals
consciously master in order to reduce stress, or other intense emotions like depression. Not all ways of coping are
equally beneficial, and some can actually be very detrimental. Coping mechanisms are the strategies people often
use in the face of stress and/or trauma to help manage painful or difficult emotions. Coping mechanisms can help
people adjust to stressful events while helping them maintain their emotional well-being. Some common coping

Mechanisms may challenge you to:

• Lower your expectations.

• Ask others to help or assist you.
• Take responsibility for the situation.
• Engage in problem solving.
• Maintain emotionally supportive relationships.
• Maintain emotional composure or, alternatively, expressing distressing emotions.
• Challenge previously held beliefs that are no longer adaptive.
• Directly attempt to change the source of stress.
• Distance yourself from the source of stress.
• View the problem through a religious perspective. Defense mechanisms refer to an individual's way
of reacting to frustration. These are unconscious psychological strategies that are used to protect
oneself from anxiety arising from unacceptable thoughts or feelings and to maintain self-image.
Healthy persons normally use different defenses throughout life.
 According to Freud, defense mechanisms are methods that ego uses to avoid recognizing ideas or emotions
that may cause personal anxiety; it is the unrealistic strategies used by the ego to discharge tension.

Various examples of defence mechanisms are the following:

Acting Out

 This means literally acting out the desires that are forbidden by the Super ego and yet desired by the Id.
We thus cope with the pressure to do what we believe is wrong by giving in to the desire. A person who is
acting out desires may do it in spite of his/her conscience or may do it with relatively little thought. Thus,
the act may be being deliberately bad or may be thoughtless wrongdoing.
Examples:
 An addict gives in to his/her desire for alcohol or drugs.
 A person who dislikes another person seeks to cause actual harm to him/her.

 Aim Inhibition Sometimes we have desires and goals that we believe or realize that we are unable to
achieve. In aim inhibition, we lower our sights, reducing our goals to something that we believe is actually
more possible or realistic.

 Altruism Avoid your own pains by concentrating on the pains of others. Maybe you can heal yourself and
feel good by healing them and helping them to feel good.

 Attack The best form of defense is attack' is a common saying and is also a common action, and when we
feel threatened or attacked (eve psychologically), we will attack back.

 Avoidance In avoidance, we simply find ways of avoiding having to face uncomfortable situations, things or
activities.

Compartmentalization

It 1s a 'divide and conquer process for separating thoughts that will conflict with one another. This may
happen when there are different beliefs or even when there are conflicting values.

Examples:
a. There is sometimes honor amongst thieves, where together they act as honest
people.
b. Thieves also may be very honest in their family lives.
c. c. My son is an angel in school and a demon at home.

Compensation

 Where a person has a weakness in one area, they may compensate by emphasizing or building up strengths
in another area. Thus, when they are faced with their weakness, they can say 'ah, but I am good at..., and
hence feel reasonably good about the situation.

Conversion

 This occurs where cognitive tensions manifest themselves in physical symptoms. The symptom may well be
symbolic and dramatic and it often acts as a communication about the situation. Extreme symptoms may
include paralysis, blindness, and deafness, becoming mute or having a seizure. Lesser symptoms include
tiredness, headaches and twitches.

Denial
  This is simply refusing to acknowledge that an event has occurred. The person affected simply acts as if
nothing has happened, behaving in ways those others may see as bizarre.

Displacement
 It refers to the shifting of actions from a desired target to a substitute target when there are some reasons
why the first target is not permitted or not available.

Examples:
 The boss gets angry and shouts at me. I go home and shout at my wife. She then shouts at our son. With
nobody is left to displace anger onto, he goes and kicks the dog.
 A religious person who is sexually frustrated focuses his/her attention on food, becoming a gourmet.
 A woman, rejected by her boyfriend, goes out with another man 'on the rebound,

Dissociation
 This involves separating a set of thoughts or activities from the main area of conscious mind, in order to
avoid the conflict that this would cause. This can also appear as taking an objective, third-person
perspective, where you 'go to the balcony' and look down on the situation in order to remove emotion from
your perspective (this is sometimes called dissociation of affect).

Example: A religious person preaches kindness to all, yet is cruelly strict to children, without
realizing that there is a conflict between the two.

Fantasy or Day Dreaming

 When we cannot achieve nor do something that we want, we channel the energy created by the desire into
fantastic imaginings. Fantasy also provides temporary relief from the general stresses of everyday living.

Example: A boy who is punished by a teacher creates fantasies of shooting teacher.

Fight-or-Flight Reaction
 When we perceive a significant threat to us, then our bodies get ready either for a fight to the death or a
desperate flight from certain defeat by a clearly superior adversary. It also happens when a creative new
idea makes feel uncertain about things of which we previously were sure. The biochemical changes in our
brain make us aggressive, fighting the new idea, or make us timid, fleeing from it.

Example: A lion suddenly appeared in front of a person while walking in the forest. That person may
choose to wrestle the lion or run away to save his life.

Help-rejecting complaining
 A person becomes upset or otherwise elicits supporting actions from other people. When helpful suggestions
or other comfort is offered, however he/she reject this and return to his/her complaint.

Example: A person complains to his/her partner about problems at work. When the partner suggests ways
of resolving the problems, solutions are rejected out of hand and the person continues to complain.

Idealization
 It is the over-estimation of the desirable qualities and underestimation of the limitations of a desired thing.
We also tend to idealize those things that we have chosen or acquired. The opposite of Idealization is
Demonization where something that is not desired or disliked has its weak points exaggerated and its strong
points played down.

Examples: I buy a sport motor NMAX and look admiringly at it’s the trending for teenagers. I ignore the fact
that it drinks fuel and is rather expensive to maintain.
Identification
 This occurs when a person changes apparent facet of his/her personality such that he/she appears to be
more like other people. This process may be to copy specific people or it may be to change to an idealized
prototype. Example: A student in a class adopts similar body language of his/her professor and tends to
take the same viewpoint.

Intellectualization
 This refers to a flight into reason', where the person avoids uncomfortable emotions by focusing on facts
and logic.

Introjection
 This occurs as a mechanism when we take on attributes of other people who seem better able to cope with
the situation than we do.

Passive
 Aggression A person who uses passive-aggressive method to cope with stresses does this by 'attacking'
others through passive means. Passive aggression often appears when a person is asked to do something
which he/she wants to avoid for some reason. By appearing to agree but not making any real commitment,
he/she can avoid the action.

Post-traumatic
 Growth An individual who has suffered a traumatic experience somehow finds ways to turn it into something
good.

Typically: Interpersonal relationships are improved, with friends and family valued more and more time being
spent in helping others. Self-perception changes through the increase in resiliency gained from realizing you
can cope with hardship. Example: A mother who has lost her child due to terrorist attack raises significant
money for victims of terrorism.

Projection
 When a person has uncomfortable thoughts or feelings, he/she may project these onto other people,
assigning the thoughts or feelings that he/she need to repress to a convenient alternative target. This is
done by placing blame for difficulties upon others or attributing one’s own unethical desires to others in an
effort to prevent ourselves being blamed.

Provocation or Free-floating
 When a person feels stressed, his/her way to avoid dealing with the real issues is to provoke others into
some kind of reaction. The attention can then be put on the other person and away from the originator's
stress.

Reaction Formation
 This occurs when someone tries to prevent his submission to unacceptable impulses by vigorously taking an
opposite stand. Example: A man who is a gay has a number of conspicuous heterosexual affairs and openly
criticizes gays.

Rationalization
 When something happens that we find difficult to accept, then we will make up a logical reason why it
happened and attempt to prove that one’s behavior is justifiable and thus worthy of self and social approval.

Regression
  This involves taking the position of a child in some problematic situation, rather than acting in a more adult
way. This behavior can be simple and harmless, such as a person who is sucking a pen (as a Freudian
regression to oral fixation), or may be more dysfunctional, such as crying or using petulant arguments.
Examples: A person who suffers a mental breakdown assumes a fatal position rocking and crying; a college
student carefully takes his/her teddy-bear with him/her (and goes to sleep cuddling it).

26. Repression This involves placing uncomfortable thoughts in relatively inaccessible areas of the subconscious
mind. Thus, when things occur that we are unable to cope with now, we push them away, either planning to deal
with them at another time or hoping that they will fade away on their own accord. The level of 'forgetting' in
repression can vary from a temporary abolition of uncomfortable thoughts to a high level of amnesia, where events
that caused the anxiety are buried very deep.

Example: a child who is abused by a parent later has no recollection of the events, but has trouble
forming relationships.

27. Self-harming The person physically deliberately hurts himself/herself in some way or otherwise puts themselves
at high risk of harm.

Example: punching a hard wall, cutting oneself with knife, driving recklessly, and taking prohibited
drugs.

28. Somatization- occurs where a psychological problem turns into physical and subconscious symptoms. This can
range from simple twitching to skin rashes, heart problems and worse.

29. Sublimation It is the transformation of unwanted impulses into something less harmful. This can simply be a
distracting release or may be a constructive and valuable piece of work. Many sports and games are sublimations of
aggressive urges, as we sublimate the desire to fight into the ritualistic activities of formal competition. Example: I
am angry so I go out and chop wood and I end up with a useful pile of firewood.

30. Suppression- This is where the person consciously and deliberately pushes down any thought that leads to
feelings of anxiety. Actions that take the person into anxiety-creating situations may also be avoided. Examples: a.
an older man has sexual feelings towards a teenager and quickly suppresses the thought. b. I am about to take a
short-cut down an alleyway. There are some people down there. I decide to take the longer, but more 'interesting'
route.

31. Substitution This takes something that leads to discomfort and replace it with something that does not lead to
discomfort.

Example: instead of putting up a mirror, I put up a photograph of myself when I was young and good
looking.

32. Symbolization Symbolization is a way of handling inner conflicts by turning them into distinct symbols. Symbols
are often physical items, although there may also be symbolic acts and metaphoric ideas.

Examples:
(a.) a soldier explains his decision to join the army as 'defending the flag'.
(b.) a man asks for the woman's hand, symbolizing the 'hand in marriage'.

33. Trivializing- When we are faced with a disappointment over something that is important to us, we are faced with
the problem of having our expectations and predictions dashed. We may even have told other people about it
beforehand, making it doubly embarrassing that we have not gained what we expected. One way that we trivialize is
to make something a joke, laughing it off.

Examples:
(a.) A girl rejects the advances of a boy. He tells his friends that she isn’t that pretty anyway.
(b.) I lose a lot of money due to gambling. I tell myself that I didn't need it anyway.
34. Undoing It refers to performance of an act to 'undo' a previous unacceptable or thought. Confession is a form of
undoing, including that done in a church to a priest or a secret admission to a close friend

. Example: a man who has been unkind to his wife buys her flowers (but not apologize).

35. Positive Coping This includes immediate problem-solving, root-cause solving, benefit finding, and spiritual
growth.

Example: a student fails an examination. He/she views it as an opportunity to deepen learning and study
hard.