The Benefits Of Operant Conditioning

Terrorism is a difficult issue to understand and grasp for many people. What is even more difficult to understand is what drives an individual to become radicalized to the point of joining a terrorist organization and committing terrorist acts. While there is not specific criteria or a “cookie cutter” approach to understanding what motivates and radicalizes an individual to participate in such atrocities, there are however, several psychological and behavioral factors that have been common among these individuals. The following paper will outline some of the psychological and behavioral factors that attribute to an individual’s radicalization and eventual willingness and even perhaps

“The True Believer” is a social psychology book written by Eric Hoffer. In the book, Hoffer outlines some common characteristics that all mass movements tend to have in common. This is not to say that all mass movements are the same, but simply the fact that they all share similar traits that make them alike. All movements plant their devotees with the idea of being ready to die and to have the tendency to unite and take action together. While this book outlines the many traits that mass movements share, this does not necessarily state that all mass movements are either good or bad. Using Hoffer’s traits and characteristics regarding mass movements, I will analyze the well-known radical group called ISIS and how it attempts to become a stabilized

A multitude of factors contribute to any type of reasoning or psychological makeup of an individual; whether it is a person’s history of behavioral problems, inability to maintain a functional relationship, or in this case becoming part of a terrorist organization. In Sarah Kershaw’s “The Terrorist Mind: An Update”, we are able to see what drives a person to commit acts of terror where it is praised in a given community.

It’s hard to imagine how anyone reasonably well off in Australia will ever think to join a terrorist organisation like ISIS. Yet, it turns out that this viral disease has spread into the minds of too many people and many have taken themselves over to Syria to fight for a group that regularly beheads people. ISIS has managed to recruit people, mostly young Muslims and persuaded them that the regular beheading of people is better than anything western society stands for. But how?

The terror group has intertwined the jihadi ideology with the theology of martyrdom. The operatives believe that Allah guides and rewards those that have made sacrifices for the noble and holy course. The struggle this terror group yields is either victory or martyrdom or both (Gunaratna, 2005).

The following is a brief explanation of the motivation of the Islamic Jihad Group. Included is a response to how the knowledge of the Islamic Jihad Group’s motivation might assist in planning counter terrorist strategy. Included are explanations as to how the motivations of terrorists differ from the motivations of other violent criminals and how cultural, socioeconomic, or political factors could lead a person to become a terrorist or criminal.

Operant conditioning is considered the second learning principle. This type of learning occurs due to the cause-and-effect relationship between a behavior and its consequences. Operant conditioning has a common sense element. When we reward a behavior, it increases. When we punish a behavior, it decreases (Horvath et.al. 2013). Individuals who dislike particular substances have little risk for developing an addiction to those substances. Such dislikes to certain drugs or substances are not uncommon. Some people do not enjoy certain substances so therefore this protects them from developing an addiction simply because those substances are not enjoyable so therefore they are not rewarding (Horvath et. al. 2013), because addiction is considered

The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, commonly known as ISIS, has frightened the whole world by committing attacks in the Middle East, Paris, and San Bernardino, California. ISIS claims to be the legitimate ruler of all Muslims and it operates the Muslim world. ISIS was able to expand as the result of local groups conflicts with Western interests. Daniel Byman declares that local groups are attracted to ISIS for genuine conviction. Particularly, young men believe that ISIS is the defender and avenger of Sunnis worldwide. On the other hand, some groups join ISIS for accessibility to financial and technical aid. While , ISIS grows beyond Iraq and Syria, religious intolerance is created. The group delivers its religious beliefs by barbarian acts, such as beheading and rape to intimidate their enemies and obtain supporters.

I found many perspectives that this group obtains. In using a functionalist perspective, we see how the groups use moral regulations and also their religious faith to teach an ideology and propagandize their people under them. This small group in sociality works and is trying to grow large and ISIS is doing just that through population growth. ISIS continues to recruit in many ways. Many people in this group have roles. Everyone becomes dependent on one another for their continued well being. People have become specialized which forces mutual interdependent, this interdependence makes sure the the community will not fall apart.

Over the centuries, fervent beliefs have caused many wars. Throughout history, differences between social propaganda have separated and formulated prejudiced ideas about different religions. All across the world, there are people, on all ranks of the social hierarchy, who are being deprived of their rights and are not being heard by their local governments, so they bear up arms and create subversive groups that struggle to bring their voices into light. Although their struggles may become violent, which leads to casualties, they are deemed as terrorists or extremists. Eventually they will be looking for supporters or even recruits, old and young, which will leap up to the issue of child recruitments in extremist groups, and the philosophical issue of how nature versus nurture plays an important role during a child 's developmental stage. Recruiting children into extremist groups, such as ISIS or the Age of God, serves as an injustice to society, particularly to the children who often times are very vulnerable and impressionable, making them incapable of recognizing the danger of their situations.

Firstly, in the story, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry god”, Jonathan Edwards describes the wrath of God and what will happen to wrong doers. “The bow of God’s wrath is bent, and the arrow made ready of the string” (Edwards 122). In this story, and excerpt in particular the author uses fear to make the reader want to become a better person. One could say this is doing good in the world, but it’s also forcing to contain the real feelings of a person. Another instance of todays evil is in a group named ISIS. Last week the group bombed a Bagdad marketplace and instantly owned up to the tragedy. The constant acts of violence that ISIS keeps pursuing on their enemies is frowned upon in almost every person’s mind. Groups should be able to practice what they believe in but again, no involvement with hurting others in any way. Its understandable in an awkward way that ISIS is just doing what they think is right, but they need to take a step back and recognize others feelings. Blowing your enemies up isn’t a good way to solve a long lasting problem. They need to put themselves in another’s shoes and walk in

There is no denying that Muslims are treated differently now, and ISIS has seen that and has used that to their advantage. ”Some are alienated by harassment or discrimination against Muslims at home, and want to join what they see as a pro-Muslim movement. Some, according to the ISD, enjoy the shocking violence.The ISD study, which examined the social-media postings of Western women who joined ISIS, found the women "celebrate the violence of ISIS, unequivocally."” (Why girls join) In the past women were seen as the people in society that would never condone violence, but the changing role of women has also changed the way they see violence. ISIS wants to find people who celebrates another western terrorist dying, and they do not care what gender. They have found a new demographic and because of that they are increasing the amount of people willing to commit acts of terror. Females often long for the sense of family and community, and when that is taken away since they can easily go into a state of depression, especially if that is all they have, “And for some women, there are benefits to joining ISIS. Many are given free housing and food. Others find a sense of camaraderie and sisterhood" (Why girls join). IS has invaded many Middle Eastern countries and turned them into war zones and has left thousands of people dead or living in terrible conditions. ISIS promises the people that are barely living everything that they desire. This can consist of a safe home, food, water, and most importantly the feeling of community once again. ISIS has created a plan to ensure that people will join the “cause”, and everything they have done, whether it was creating social media accounts or raiding countries for all of their belongings has had an end goal of getting

Skinner’s theory observes individuals from the point of view of the behavior that they demonstrate. The key weakness of this theory is its attempt to explain the behaviors of an individual solely through visible phenomena. Critics sometimes accuse behaviorists of denying that ideas and thoughts exist (Jensen & Burgess, 1997). The major opposition that behaviorists face is that behavior of a person cannot be understood without including the mental activity of the individual. Critics have accused behaviorists of focusing only on behavior and ignoring the role of physiology, neuroscience, and genetics (Weiss & Rosales-Ruiz, 2014). Sometimes the reactions that people demonstrate have are not related their experience and therefore they have another

This same idea is shown around the world in current events. ISIS is an organization in which people from all over the world join to form a group that terrorizes areas. Many people who do not think they belong where they are now. They join ISIS in hopes of finding a place where they feel like they belong. That feeling of belonging as well as the need for comfort drives these people past the point of reason. The people treat the feeling of beloning and comfort as their religion and will do anything to feel

Operant conditioning focuses on a system of reinforcement and punishers where actions will have a consequence (Skinner, 2016). In operant conditioning, behaviour that is reinforced will be strengthened while behaviour that is not reinforced will weaken with time (Skinner, 2016). There are three types of operants. The neutral operants that will neither increase nor decrease the chances of repeating a behaviour (Skinner, 2016). The reinforcers will increase the chances of repeating a behaviour (Skinner, 2016). The punishers will decrease the chances of repeating a behaviour (Skinner, 2016). Positive reinforcement strengthens a behaviour as an individual gains rewards through it (Skinner, 2016). Negative reinforcement strengthens the behaviour by removing an unpleasant consequence