Psychology

Golly gosh, I haven't posted in a while! I've been so busy revising for my psychology exam on the 29th that I've not been writing any new lyrics or anything :( So, just in case you're interested (this post is especially aimed at Terra and J, as she's not a feminist but she's arguing about women!), here's a discussion about Gilligan's theory of moral reasoning. She basically argued that researchers such as Kohlberg and Piaget focused too much on males, giving a distorted understanding of female moral reasoning. It's rather long!

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Gilligan argued that Kohlberg’s theory of moral development was androcentric (male-biased) in that males moral reasoning seemed to be more advanced than female moral reasoning. Holstein (1976) found that female adolescents tended to score at Kohlberg’s level 3 whereas male adolescents usually scored at level 4. Gilligan believed that Kohlberg’s dilemmas described hypothetical problems which placed too much emphasis on the principle of justice and lacked emotional relevance to participants. Therefore, Kohlberg’s dilemmas dealt with only one dimension of moral reasoning, which resulted in the androcentric view of morality and a distorted understanding of female moral reasoning. In 1977, Gilligan conducted a study where she interviewed women considering a termination. She found that female Ps did not focus on principles of justice, but on issues connected to responsibility. The judgments made were based on the impact of the individual’s behaviour on other people. Gilligan concluded that an ethic of care and responsibility was more representative of female moral reasoning than an ethic of justice. It would appear that Kohlberg’s work was limited by the focus on one dimension of moral reasoning (justice) when females use a different dimension of moral reasoning (care). From the Ps responses, Gilligan developed levels of moral reasoning which reflect the ethic of care. Level 1 is the self-interest level, where judgments are based on what is best for the individual rather than the needs of others. Level 2 is the self-sacrifice level – judgments are based on a desire to put the welfare of others before both self-interest and conventional rules. The final level is the non-violence and universal care level, where judgments are based on a desire to take everyone’s needs into account and to avoid hurting anyone who may be affected by the decision made. However, Gilligan’s research has sparked much controversy. Gilligan only interviewed women, so in effect, she has allowed 2 key variables to remain uncontrolled in this study – gender (there was no male control group) and the nature of the issue at the heart of the moral dilemma. Age was also not controlled. Therefore, the emphasis on care in moral reasoning may have arisen in this study because a) there are gender differences in moral reasoning as concluded by Gilligan or b) the subject matter of the dilemma has direct personal relevance to the individual so evokes a more empathic response. In 1988, Gilligan and Attanucci studied 80 males and females, and concluded that their results supported the theory that males and females use different orientations when reasoning about moral problems. However, 30% of women in this study demonstrated a justice focus. This raises the question as to whether there really is a significant difference in the way that males and females reason about moral problems. Walker (1989) studied 233 Ps aged 10-63. They were given Kohlberg’s moral dilemmas and also asked about real-life dilemmas. Their responses were scored according to both Kohlberg’s stage theory and Gilligan’s levels. The study was longitudinal in style (because of the age gap) with two years between the two assessment interviews. The results showed that most Ps had moved on to a higher level of moral reasoning over the 2 years. When tested on personal relationship dilemmas, both sexes used a care orientation. In fact, both sexes used both care and justice orientations. Also, personal relationship dilemmas tended to produce more sophisticated reasoning than other dilemmas. Walker concluded that the evidence favours the stage theory of moral reasoning, and that there is no male bias in Kohlberg’s dilemmas. Males and females use both care and justice orientations in moral reasoning, depending on the situation. Jaffee and Shibley (2000) reviewed 180 studies and concluded that a small sex difference does exist in the use of care vs. justice orientations but it is extremely small – it exists at a population level rather than at an individual level. Overall, males and females are much more alike in their moral reasoning than unalike. However, evidence generally supports the idea that a care orientation as well as a justice orientation arises in moral reasoning. This implies that other important dimensions could exist too.

Chain Chain

Hazy uncertainty built from nightmares spin my hands into black lace
Spinning wheel in a maze of humanity.
Sleeping in an oyster I was a pearl
Hiding just around the next corner… or is that you?
The same man steps through a picture frame dark glass stares at your face
Coffins fall on their sides in the distance
Sane insane sane insane flicker like a cheap motel light
Wherever you’re going trust your friends
One little step takes you right out of your life.
Bankers sit back to back with gypsies in rowing boats stuck in the centre of a crystal lake.
Things I wish I’d known skitter away from me into the cobwebbed corners of an old woman’s shawl.
Alternate reality needs pills to stop you making it sick.
Sitting in a lecture hall reading a blank newspaper, this I know.
Breeze block of gravity is hiding in my suitcase on the stairs.
Oh please. Confusion in Paris is never explained by the falling of autumn leaves into an old man’s hair.
I’m sitting next to a boiling kettle on my sofa, thinking that your thoughts always used to bubble like anger in a cauldron.
Something is sitting vaguely on what could possibly be some sort of cloud in some kind of shape or form of a maybe.

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This is a piece that's a little older than my others... I felt I needed to post something though, and I quite like this. It's a very insanely random poem type thing inspired vaguely by drama, the Beatles and me and Ellie's crimp-like songs. I like the majority of it, but I know there are a few lines that don't quite fit. Not happy with the ending really, but I was like "I have to stop at some point or it'll go on forever!".

Love Letters

Love letters; I miss them. Yours. Letters in the sun, letters at night, letters in the secret and whispered corners of my mind. Written in ink, blood, diamonds. My tears were falling. Letters on the phone, letters in the newspaper, letters in my eyes. Cryptic letters when I screamed. Easy letters made of silken words which fell into my heart and were locked away there. Romance, I taste it, breathe it, cry it. Letters are my being. Your letters.

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Another creative writing marvel... Inspired by the concept of "flash-ficiton". We had to write 6-word stories. This one came from one I wrote: "Love letters; I miss them. Yours." I'm quite fond of this, although I wish it was longer.

Cold-White

Skin. The ever-flowing waterfall of white pearls. Her eyes swirled, frosty with a thousand of Jack’s winters. Her fingers were icy, the bone bleached to a toothy ivory. Her apathetic. Snow-white hair, pale as white noise, spilled over her shoulders. Wintry lips, blue and powdered with snowflakes, form ashen, bleak, empty words. She, apathetic. I am freezing just from being in her presence. I am freezing, freezing, trying desperately to hold on to my warm heart, but it slips through icy fingers. I am freezing. Slowly. By her gaze, her words which seal me to my chill fate. I am freezing. I see snowfalls in her eyes. Empty deserts of white water. Freezing, I am freezing. I drown in her bleached complexion. Queen of apathy does not make sense to me. Brain freeze, loyal subject possessed. I shake. I freeze, while her smooth skin glitters maliciously. I’m stuck to her, like a tongue stuck to ice. I am stuck, I am freezing, I am an achromatic subject of the inhibited ivory queen. Ice drips from my fingernails, shatters, whilst I am freezing, freezing, trapped in the snowstorm of her eyes. My heart is a shard of crystal. I am as brittle and fragile as an icicle. I am frozen.

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I'm not very well :( Terrible cold. This was written in creative writing again, one that Terra ran actually, based on synonyms for "cold" and "white" (in case you couldn't guess!). At Terra's suggestion, I'll probably be posting some psychology stuff on here sooner or later to bore you with :)

Jewels

She dripped with rubies, I drowned in emeralds.
I'm surprised she isn't blinded by the flashing of my eyes, cat's eyes glowing in the dark with the light of a thousand refracted jealousies. Wine slid past her lips, absynthe poured out of my throat. In the form of words, I am as playful, flirtatious and romantic as can be. My tongue is the little green fairy. But my stomach burns with the acid from the sickly limes that have somehow filled me to the brim with their bitterness.
Her dress is made from rose petals touched by the hands of princesses, blooming and filling the sun-drenched air with their gorgeous scent.
Mine is made from bile, squashed by violent men into something resembling satin.
Rich, red blood flows through her veins, but my cold heart pumps nothing but glittering, hideous malice around my body. It spurs me on and fills me most holy, envious, purest jealousy.

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Just finished writing a massive 4-page psychology essay :( And thought I'd share this. It was written in creative writing club and I'm rather fond of it.

Calling terradoll...

I just watched this and I thought it was great, but I'd be interested to know Terra's comments on it with regard to feminism... What do you think about females in the music indistry?

Darf ich mich vorstellen?

Hello there. This blog is mainly going to show my angsty, abstract, strange, ambiguous, entertaining and random writings. These usually fall into the categories of poetry, prose or lyrics (what doesn't?). But you may occasionally be treated to my rantings about something which has angered/upset me, or my efforts to bring something interesting to your attention, or my ravings about music and the many sides of it...

By the way, I'm not German... The phrase "darf ich mich vorstellen" means "may I introduce myself". I just decided to write it in German to get your attention. Did it work?