Using the outline attached-below, write a paper (2,000-2,250 words) that synthesizes information from resources you identified. Do that by including the following: THIS IS NOT A SUMMARY but instead S

Using the outline attached-below, write a paper (2,000-2,250 words) that synthesizes information from resources you identified. Do that by including the following:  THIS IS NOT A SUMMARY but instead SYNTHESIZES

1. A description of discrimination. What is the problem to be researched?
2. A behavioral analysis of the issue. Ask yourself, how would a behavioral theorist view the creation and persistence of this issue?
3. A behavioral solution to the issue. How can behavioral theories be applied to solve this issue? Determine a plan of action, even if it is hypothetical.
4. Describe the limitations of the behavioral interpretation of the issue, as well as any limitations to the behavioral solution. How might you resolve those limitations?

OUTLINE

Social Issue as a Behaviorist Sees It I. Introduction a. Discrimination is like a termite that destroys the firm stem of cohesion and bonding across all human society. Many challenges are faced by humanity, although psychology has come up with several ways to solve these problems; however, there are other issues that people face but psychology has not addressed them enough. One of the issues that have affected the world for a long time is discrimination. b. Humans have the right to be treated equally despite their; class, race, caste, nationality, religion, health status, gender and age. The problem of discrimination has even affected our career developments and health. When an individual is discriminated, they become stressed, which can lead to health problems or lose focus. Whenever one is discriminated against, they tend to despair, especially fail to achieve goals set previously. This issue of discrimination has been there for a long time, marked by incidences such as; slavery of some people, colonization and wars (Commons, 2001). c. This research will identify the potential solutions to discrimination by analyzing its root cause based on the beliefs of behaviorists. II. Statement of the problem a. Some researchers have used prejudice to address the problem, although this has not been successful because they have not been able to identify the major causes of discrimination. It is not known the impact of discrimination on everyday life. b. Human responses to their environment shapes their discriminating actions. Despite being a prevalent and frequent issue in the society today, discrimination is a preventable issue. Discrimination occurs along the lines of sex, religious beliefs, race, and economic statuses. III. Behavioral Analysis of the Problem a. According to behaviorists, discrimination is learned, meaning that it cannot be addressed fully if the learning process is not curtailed (Malone, 2004). b. In the 20th century, J Watson came up with methodological behaviorism; he is also the father of behaviorism. According to his methodological behaviorism, it is important for psychology to focus on the behavior of organisms and not their mental states. Methodological behaviorism also explains that mental states, including human and animal beliefs do not contribute anything to psychology. According to the ideas of Watson, the discrimination problem can be understood by looking at people’s behavior. Additionally, some behaviors may lead to discrimination. c. Radial behaviorism argues that the problem of discrimination can be solved by analyzing an individual’s private events, thoughts and feelings and how they are controlled by the environment. According to the previous evidence, the environment is actively involved in controlling human behavior (Bennett, 1996). d. Some environmental factors like; politics, social class, laws, economy and others have to be analyzed appropriately since they affect the feelings and thoughts of discrimination (Murtonen, Gruber, & Lehtinen, 2017). e. Classical conditioning would explain discrimination as resulting from the inference that variations in people are the result of separate dormant variables. SOCIAL ISSUES OUTLINE 3 f. Operant conditioning’s definition of discrimination would explain why people respond to discriminative stimulus and not identical stimuli. g. Bandura’s social learning theory would explain discrimination as the result of human goals with specific intentions and purposes. IV. Behavioral Solutions a. The most reliable solution to discrimination is methodological behaviorism, which argues that psychology should focus on people’s behavior and not their inner thoughts and feelings. The people’s behavior leads to discrimination, actions speak louder than words, which means that the way people behave dictates whether there will be issues of discrimination or not. We have to look at the action of people that are discriminated against together with those who discriminate against others. We have to first analyze the practices and behavior that lead to discrimination so that these practices can be adjusted accordingly. Methodological behaviorism can analyze an individual’s behavior and how it makes them be discriminated against. When this is done, then it will be easier to identify the root cause of discrimination and how it is controllable (Balogun, 2016). i. Operant conditioning would emphasize punishing those encouraging discrimination, thus lowering the possibility of discrimination. ii. Social learning theory would confirm that humans can avoid discrimination and prejudice through living in and observing a society without prejudice. V. Limitations of the Behavioral Solution a. The behaviorist approach emphasizes behaviors as resulting in discrimination leaving out the cognitive and personality aspects of discrimination. Including the role of personality on prejudice and cognitive processes in prejudice would be fundamental. b. To first solve this problem, it is important to understand why discrimination exists by using some theories like; radial, classical and methodological conditioning. These limitations of behaviorism theories can be easily solved and addressed through different strategies. The first one is that behaviorists should come up with experiments and studies that involve humans as their major subjects. This will address the issue that their claims cannot be used to address human problems. c. The second way to solve these limitations is that experts should come up with different researches to prove whether these claims are applicable or not. This will be used to prove whether those against the theories are correct or not. d. The third strategy is that when conducting tests or experiments, the subjects should have free will and not be forced to behave or believe in something. VI. Conclusion a. To understand the problem of discrimination, patterns of response and stimulus have to be examined and analyzed. Different learning experiences may result in discrimination; that’s why it is vital to understand these learning experiences and how they shape the discrimination issue. i. Modern technologies should also be applied in the research because the ideas and thoughts of people have revolutionized due to enhancements of technology. These are the potential solutions to the claims against SOCIAL ISSUES OUTLINE 4 behaviorism theories, which can be used to prove whether they are applicable or not to humans and the general society (Staddon, 2017). ii. Several limitations have been identified for behaviorism. These limitations can be addressed by coming up with more research and studies to establish whether these claims are true or not. In my view, behaviorism can be used as a potential solution to discrimination issues in society (Bandura, 2018). b. The paper evaluates the behavioral interpretation of discrimination. Behaviorism theory can be critical, especially in addressing problems of discrimination, which have affected how people interact with one another (Barrett, L. 2019). c. In conclusion, studies of behaviorism are vital, especially in understanding why some people are discriminated against while others are not; they are also important in coming up with potential solutions to discrimination. i. The best solution to this problem is first understanding the discrimination through the lens of radial behaviorism then coming up with analyses of human feelings and thoughts. These feelings are then interpreted to understand the root cause of discrimination practices against some people (Quinn, 2017).

REFERENCES

Balogun, B. J. (2016). The Problem of Other Minds: A Yoruba Hermeneutic Deconstruction of the Logical Behaviourist Approach. The Journal of Pan African Studies (Online), 9(3), 15

Bandura, A. (2018). Albert bandura and social learning theory. Learning Theories For Early Years Practice, 63. Barrett, L. (2019). Enactivism, pragmatism…behaviorism? Philosophical Studies, 176(3), 807- 818. doi: 10.1007/s11098-018-01231-7

Bennett, R. (1996). Relationship formation and governance in consumer markets: transactional analysis versus the behaviourist approach. journal of Marketing Management, 12(5), 417-436.

Commons, M. (2001). Behaviorism Resurrected. Contemporary Psychology, 46(4), 348-351. doi: 10.1037/002440.

Malone, J. (2004). Modern Molar Behaviorism and Theoretical Behaviorism: Religion and Science. Journal of The Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 82(1), 95-102. doi: 10.1901/jeab.2004.82-95

Murtonen, M., Gruber, H., & Lehtinen, E. (2017). The return of behaviorist epistemology: A review of learning outcomes studies. Educational Research Review, 22, 114-128.

Quinn, P. (2017). Book review: Discrimination as Stigma: A Theory of Anti-discrimination Law. International Journal of Discrimination and The Law, 17(3), 213-216. doi: 10.1177/1358229117728621

Staddon, J. (2017). The Old Behaviorism: A Response to William Baum’s Review of the New Behaviorism. Journal of The Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 82(1), 79-83. doi: 10.1901/jeab.2004.82-79