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You have to study at least one key issue for each approach to psychology
Female violence is a big concern at the moment, as it is constantly increasing. One possible explanation is due to
cultural images which are being copied. Female violence and ladette culture seems to be increasing in today’s world
and some people believe this to be due to the recent images of “hard” and “strong” women being plastered in
society, such as Tomb Raider Lara Croft and ‘bad girls’ in TV series, films and books
Whereas previously ladette behaviour and violence was only seen in males, it is now seen as frequently in females.
The police in Scotland have commented a large increase in actual female violence, and problems due to said offence
has seen the rates of women being banged up increase fourfold over the past few years, whereas with men at a
much lower rate
Application of concepts and ideas:
 The ‘bad girl’ image painted in books, films and TV shows (such as those of Lara Croft) could explain the
behaviours being seen due to social learning theory (women relate to these models and so imitate them)
 According to social learning theory and vicarious learning, the behaviour of role models is imitated
 If the characters in these films and video games are seen as glamorous, like Lara Croft, and/or get what they
want from behaving as they do, also as Lara Croft, then this could be seen as the “reinforcement” to imitate
 Although alternative explanations must be considered, such as alcohol being the pure cause for this behaviour
(again, though, the drinking itself could be imitation of a characteristic they have seen their role models do and
want to portray themselves in a similar way)
The term anorexia is used to describe the eating disorder characterised by being extremely underweight, and
refusing to eat properly. Sufferers view themselves as fat, when they are in fact painfully thin. Common sufferers
are teenagers, who desire the perfect body. An effect of the disorder in girls is the stoppage of menstruation, as
their bodies begin to shut down. Boys also suffer from it, and although less common, the rates are on the rise
Application of concepts and ideas:
 Social learning theory suggests that people imitate the behaviour of role models they can identify with
 The trend towards size zero on the catwalk – the desire to be thin – leading to anorexia influences young
people
 The work of Bandura suggest that we are more likely to copy the behaviour of our same-sex models: these size
zero models are all women, and many teenage girls want to copy their image
 Operant conditioning also contributes an explanation: positive reinforcement might be glances from other
people and compliments for being thin or losing weight; negative reinforcement might be no longer being
picked on for being fat; and negative vicarious reinforcement might be observing others being bullied due to
them being overweight
 Again, alternatives must be considered, for example, the psychodynamic approach offers a different one, that
a girl might want to remain a child because of a fixation at an early developmental stage
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