The formation of individual behavior is influenced by several factors. Psychologists use different perspective to explain how a behavior is formed. In this paper I will look on how humanistic, behavioral and cognitive perspectives can be used to explain how the behavior of the two students who shot their fellow students at Columbine High School was formed. I will also establish how these viewpoints can be used to prevent incidences of students shooting each other.
Humanistic psychology
Humanistic psychology is based on the belief that people are good by nature but there are psychological experiences that make people to digress from being good and as a result alter their morals, ethical values and forces that define their behavior (SimplyPsychology, 2020). The humanistic view emphasizes that individuals have free will and a desire to self-actualize themselves. Also, this approach is shaped by a belief that an individual behavior is influenced by how other people treat an individual.
The 1999 Columbine High School students shooting their colleagues on a humanistic standpoint it was as a result of students who were not able to actualize themselves and who were not accepted in their childhood (The New York Times, 1999). This is because the shooting was directed towards students who were doing well in athletics and those who had poked the shooters while in groups that accepted them. Humanistic psychologists, will argue that these two boys shot their colleagues because they failed to actualize themselves in the field of athletics and that made them develop a violent behavior. These students were not popular or successful in the school. Also, their action maybe was triggered because of being the laughing stock because of belonging to the “trench coat mafia” group.
Instances of students shooting each other as per humanistic psychologists can be prevented by treating children well during their early years. Children should be made to feel good about themselves, instead of, waiting for them to be accepted in evil groups. Also, children should be taught they are gifted in different ways and they should work to actualize what they have. They should not see others as if they are the only ones self-actualizing themselves. The success and popularity of the people around them should not be the force that will compel them to change their good behaviors.
Behaviorism theory
Behaviorism theory states that an individual behavior is as a result of learning experiences, social and environmental interactions through conditioning. In this perspective, observable behavior is given a priority (verywellmind, 2021). Children learn behaviors through what they see and what the environment presents to them. For example, children who spend time watching violent games and unfriendly television programs end up forming hostile behaviors.
Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, the duo who left 12 students and one teacher lifeless and injured 23 other students at Columbine High School, were known to be great fans of video game; Doom. The video game was meant to train soldiers how to kill (The Guardian, 2000). These two students during a class project they prepared a similar videotape as Doom and they played roles of shooting school athletes. Even before a year elapsed after presenting their project, they carried out the real shooting in their school. This shows the Doom video game formed an aggressive behavior in them.
To prevent the occurrences of such student’s killings parents and children caregivers should monitor the video games that children under their care watch and follow in order to curb the formation of violent behavior. Children should not be exposed to violent video games and other such programs. When choosing video games for children one should adhere to Video Game Rating System (ESRB, 2021).
Cognitive theory
Cognitive theory looks on how individuals mental process work. This perspective is interested with perception, memory, attention, thinking, language and consciousness. The mind is likened with a computer that accepts input, does processing and gives out output. The output is the result of what was fed to the computer after it is processed. A cognitive psychologist believes behavior is an output of what enters in the mind (SimplyPsychology, 2020).
The students who shot their colleagues at Columbine High School according to cognitive psychologists must have developed that behavior from what they had allowed to enter in their minds. For example, watching violent game videos may have played a great role in feeding their minds with aggressive content. After that content was processed in their minds, the actual shooting followed. The accumulation of shooting knowledge may have taken years but its retrieval resulted to their killing behavior.
From a cognitive psychologist perspective, this unreceptive behavior of students can be prevented by feeding the mind with the right content. The minors should be exposed to materials that when absorbed by their minds, what will be stored in their mind will not be harmful. This is because one day what goes inside the mind will be retrieved and it will play a great role in forming the behavior.
In conclusion, each perspective has its own strengths and weaknesses. But, these perspectives are very effective in understand human behavior and offering possible solutions to people with mental disorders. They are also very useful to parents and children caregivers as they can help them in forming the right behavior in children.
Humanistic psychology
Humanistic psychology is based on the belief that people are good by nature but there are psychological experiences that make people to digress from being good and as a result alter their morals, ethical values and forces that define their behavior (SimplyPsychology, 2020). The humanistic view emphasizes that individuals have free will and a desire to self-actualize themselves. Also, this approach is shaped by a belief that an individual behavior is influenced by how other people treat an individual.
The 1999 Columbine High School students shooting their colleagues on a humanistic standpoint it was as a result of students who were not able to actualize themselves and who were not accepted in their childhood (The New York Times, 1999). This is because the shooting was directed towards students who were doing well in athletics and those who had poked the shooters while in groups that accepted them. Humanistic psychologists, will argue that these two boys shot their colleagues because they failed to actualize themselves in the field of athletics and that made them develop a violent behavior. These students were not popular or successful in the school. Also, their action maybe was triggered because of being the laughing stock because of belonging to the “trench coat mafia” group.
Instances of students shooting each other as per humanistic psychologists can be prevented by treating children well during their early years. Children should be made to feel good about themselves, instead of, waiting for them to be accepted in evil groups. Also, children should be taught they are gifted in different ways and they should work to actualize what they have. They should not see others as if they are the only ones self-actualizing themselves. The success and popularity of the people around them should not be the force that will compel them to change their good behaviors.
Behaviorism theory
Behaviorism theory states that an individual behavior is as a result of learning experiences, social and environmental interactions through conditioning. In this perspective, observable behavior is given a priority (verywellmind, 2021). Children learn behaviors through what they see and what the environment presents to them. For example, children who spend time watching violent games and unfriendly television programs end up forming hostile behaviors.
Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, the duo who left 12 students and one teacher lifeless and injured 23 other students at Columbine High School, were known to be great fans of video game; Doom. The video game was meant to train soldiers how to kill (The Guardian, 2000). These two students during a class project they prepared a similar videotape as Doom and they played roles of shooting school athletes. Even before a year elapsed after presenting their project, they carried out the real shooting in their school. This shows the Doom video game formed an aggressive behavior in them.
To prevent the occurrences of such student’s killings parents and children caregivers should monitor the video games that children under their care watch and follow in order to curb the formation of violent behavior. Children should not be exposed to violent video games and other such programs. When choosing video games for children one should adhere to Video Game Rating System (ESRB, 2021).
Cognitive theory
Cognitive theory looks on how individuals mental process work. This perspective is interested with perception, memory, attention, thinking, language and consciousness. The mind is likened with a computer that accepts input, does processing and gives out output. The output is the result of what was fed to the computer after it is processed. A cognitive psychologist believes behavior is an output of what enters in the mind (SimplyPsychology, 2020).
The students who shot their colleagues at Columbine High School according to cognitive psychologists must have developed that behavior from what they had allowed to enter in their minds. For example, watching violent game videos may have played a great role in feeding their minds with aggressive content. After that content was processed in their minds, the actual shooting followed. The accumulation of shooting knowledge may have taken years but its retrieval resulted to their killing behavior.
From a cognitive psychologist perspective, this unreceptive behavior of students can be prevented by feeding the mind with the right content. The minors should be exposed to materials that when absorbed by their minds, what will be stored in their mind will not be harmful. This is because one day what goes inside the mind will be retrieved and it will play a great role in forming the behavior.
In conclusion, each perspective has its own strengths and weaknesses. But, these perspectives are very effective in understand human behavior and offering possible solutions to people with mental disorders. They are also very useful to parents and children caregivers as they can help them in forming the right behavior in children.
