The Psychology of Compassion and Cruelty PDF Download

Author: Thomas G. Plante Ph.D.
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 384

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Book Description
This thoughtful book brings together some of the best psychological and spiritual thinkers to ponder evidence-based reflections about the development and nurturance of compassion. In an effort to alter behavior, scientists have conducted research to better understand the factors that contribute to both caring and cruel behavior among individuals and groups. This uplifting volume reviews evidence collected from experts across disciplines and explains how certain psychological, spiritual, and religious factors spur compassion and deter cruelty. The work extols the importance of religion and psychology as tools for better understanding and influencing behavior. With deep reflection combined with research-based insights, the book considers the various avenues for creating kinder human beings. Expert contributors examine empirical evidence to learn if engagement in particular activities results in benevolent behavior, while chapters present the many ways in which kindness touches all aspects of life—from racial harmony, to child rearing, to work environments. Topics include exploring the healing effects of prayers and meditation, integrating compassion into higher education, and parenting with greater mindfulness and care.

Author: Thomas G. Plante Ph.D.
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 1440832706
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 273

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Book Description
This thoughtful book brings together some of the best psychological and spiritual thinkers to ponder evidence-based reflections about the development and nurturance of compassion. In an effort to alter behavior, scientists have conducted research to better understand the factors that contribute to both caring and cruel behavior among individuals and groups. This uplifting volume reviews evidence collected from experts across disciplines and explains how certain psychological, spiritual, and religious factors spur compassion and deter cruelty. The work extols the importance of religion and psychology as tools for better understanding and influencing behavior. With deep reflection combined with research-based insights, the book considers the various avenues for creating kinder human beings. Expert contributors examine empirical evidence to learn if engagement in particular activities results in benevolent behavior, while chapters present the many ways in which kindness touches all aspects of life—from racial harmony, to child rearing, to work environments. Topics include exploring the healing effects of prayers and meditation, integrating compassion into higher education, and parenting with greater mindfulness and care.

Author: Paul Bloom
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0062339354
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 190

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Book Description
New York Post Best Book of 2016 We often think of our capacity to experience the suffering of others as the ultimate source of goodness. Many of our wisest policy-makers, activists, scientists, and philosophers agree that the only problem with empathy is that we don’t have enough of it. Nothing could be farther from the truth, argues Yale researcher Paul Bloom. In AGAINST EMPATHY, Bloom reveals empathy to be one of the leading motivators of inequality and immorality in society. Far from helping us to improve the lives of others, empathy is a capricious and irrational emotion that appeals to our narrow prejudices. It muddles our judgment and, ironically, often leads to cruelty. We are at our best when we are smart enough not to rely on it, but to draw instead upon a more distanced compassion. Basing his argument on groundbreaking scientific findings, Bloom makes the case that some of the worst decisions made by individuals and nations—who to give money to, when to go to war, how to respond to climate change, and who to imprison—are too often motivated by honest, yet misplaced, emotions. With precision and wit, he demonstrates how empathy distorts our judgment in every aspect of our lives, from philanthropy and charity to the justice system; from medical care and education to parenting and marriage. Without empathy, Bloom insists, our decisions would be clearer, fairer, and—yes—ultimately more moral. Brilliantly argued, urgent and humane, AGAINST EMPATHY shows us that, when it comes to both major policy decisions and the choices we make in our everyday lives, limiting our impulse toward empathy is often the most compassionate choice we can make.

Author: Thomas Szasz
Publisher: Syracuse University Press
ISBN: 9780815605102
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 290

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Book Description
Cruel Compassion is the capstone of Thomas Szasz's critique of psychiatric practices. Reexamining psychiatric interventions from a cultural-historical and political-economic perspective, Szasz demonstrates that the main problem that faces mental health policy makers today is adult dependency. Millions of Americans, diagnosed as mentally ill, are drugged and confined by doctors for noncriminal conduct, go legally unpunished for the crimes they commit, and are supported by the state—not because they are sick, but because they are unproductive and unwanted. Obsessed with the twin beliefs that misbehavior is a medical disorder and that the duty of the state is to protect adults from themselves, we have replaced criminal-punitive sentences with civil-therapeutic 'programs.' The result is the relentless loss of individual liberty, erosion of personal responsibility, and destruction of the security of persons and property—symptoms of the transformation of a Constitutional Republic into a Therapeutic State, unconstrained by the rule of law. Szasz shows convincingly that not until we separate therapy from coercion—much as the founders separated theology from coercion—shall we be able to get a handle on our seemingly intractable psychiatric and social problems. No contemporary thinker has done more than Thomas Szasz to expose the myths and misconceptions surrounding insanity and the practice of psychiatry. Now, in Cruel Compassion, he gives us a sobering look at some of our most cherished notions about our humane treatment of society's unwanted, and perhaps more importantly, about ourselves as a compassionate and democratic people.

Author: Paul Gilbert
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135443742
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 480

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Book Description
What is compassion, how does it affect the quality of our lives and how can we develop compassion for ourselves and others? Humans are capable of extreme cruelty but also considerable compassion. Often neglected in Western psychology, this book looks at how compassion may have evolved, and is linked to various capacities such as sympathy, empathy, forgiveness and warmth. Exploring the effects of early life experiences with families and peers, this book outlines how developing compassion for self and others can be key to helping people change, recover and develop ways of living that increase well-being. Focusing on the multi-dimensional nature of compassion, international contributors: explore integrative evolutionary, social constructivist, cognitive and Buddhist approaches to compassion consider how and why cruelty can flourish when our capacities for compassion are turned off, especially in particular environments focus on how therapists bring compassion into their therapeutic relationship, and examine its healing effects describe how to help patients develop inner warmth and compassion to help alleviate psychological problems. Compassion provides detailed outlines of interventions that are of particular value to psychotherapists and counsellors interested in developing compassion as a therapeutic focus in their work. It is also of value to social scientists interested in pro-social behaviour, and those seeking links between Buddhist and Western psychology.

Author: Gwen Adshead
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1982134798
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
"What drives someone to commit an act of terrible violence? Drawing from her thirty years' experience in working with people who have committed serious offenses, Dr. Gwen Adshead provides fresh and surprising insights into violence and the mind. Through a collaboration with coauthor Eileen Horne, Dr. Adshead brings her extraordinary career to life in a series of unflinching portraits. In eleven vivid narratives based on decades of providing therapy to people in prisons and secure hospitals, an internationally renowned forensic psychiatrist and psychotherapist demonstrates the remarkable human capacity for radical empathy, change, and redemption."--Provided by publisher.

Author: Simon Baron-Cohen
Publisher:
ISBN: 0465031420
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 274

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Book Description
A groundbreaking and challenging examination of the social, cognitive, neurological, and biological roots of psychopathy, cruelty, and evil Borderline personality disorder, autism, narcissism, psychosis: All of these syndromes have one thing in common--lack of empathy. In some cases, this absence can be dangerous, but in others it can simply mean a different way of seeing the world.In The Science of Evil Simon Baron-Cohen, an award-winning British researcher who has investigated psychology and autism for decades, develops a new brain-based theory of human cruelty. A true psychologist, however, he examines social and environmental factors that can erode empathy, including neglect and abuse. Based largely on Baron-Cohen's own research, The Science of Evil will change the way we understand and treat human cruelty.

Author: Emma M. Seppälä
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190464690
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 557

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Book Description
How do we define compassion? Is it an emotional state, a motivation, a dispositional trait, or a cultivated attitude? How does it compare to altruism and empathy? Chapters in this Handbook present critical scientific evidence about compassion in numerous conceptions. All of these approaches to thinking about compassion are valid and contribute importantly to understanding how we respond to others who are suffering. Covering multiple levels of our lives and self-concept, from the individual, to the group, to the organization and culture, The Oxford Handbook of Compassion Science gathers evidence and models of compassion that treat the subject of compassion science with careful scientific scrutiny and concern. It explores the motivators of compassion, the effect on physiology, the co-occurrence of wellbeing, and compassion training interventions. Sectioned by thematic approaches, it pulls together basic and clinical research ranging across neurobiological, developmental, evolutionary, social, clinical, and applied areas in psychology such as business and education. In this sense, it comprises one of the first multidisciplinary and systematic approaches to examining compassion from multiple perspectives and frames of reference. With contributions from well-established scholars as well as young rising stars in the field, this Handbook bridges a wide variety of diverse perspectives, research methodologies, and theory, and provides a foundation for this new and rapidly growing field. It should be of great value to the new generation of basic and applied researchers examining compassion, and serve as a catalyst for academic researchers and students to support and develop the modern world.

Author: Tara Cousineau
Publisher: New Harbinger Publications
ISBN: 1626259712
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 238

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Book Description
It’s time for a kindness revolution. In The Kindness Cure, psychologist Tara Cousineau draws on cutting-edge research in psychology and neuroscience to show how simple practices of kindness—for ourselves, for others, and for our world—can dissolve our feelings of fear and indifference, and open us up to a life of profound happiness. Compassion for ourselves and others is our birthright as humans—hardwired into our DNA and essential to our happiness. But in our fast-paced, technical savvy and hyper competitive world, it may come as no surprise that rates of narcissism have risen, while empathy levels have declined. We now find ourselves in a “cool to be cruel” culture where it’s easy to feel disillusioned and dejected in our hearts, homes, and communities. So, how can we reverse this malady of meanness and make kindness and compassion an imperative? The Kindness Cure draws on the latest social and scientific research to reveal how the seemingly “soft skills” of kindness, cooperation, and generosity are fundamental to our survival as a species. In fact, it’s our prosocial abilities that put us at the head of the line. Blended with moving case studies and clinical anecdotes, Cousineau offers practical ways to rekindle kindness from the inside out. We are wired to care. The very existence of our human species evolved because of an intricate physiology built for empathy, compassion, and cooperation. Yet we have an epidemic of loneliness, indifference, and cruelty, and we see these destructive trends on a daily basis in our families, schools, neighborhoods, and workplaces. This important book teaches effective skills in compassion, mindfulness, and social and emotional learning, and reveals successful social policy initiatives in empathy taking place that inform everything from family life to education to the workplace. Kindness has the exponential power to renew relationships and transform how we think, feel, and behave in the world. Will you be a part of the revolution?

Author: Frank R. Ascione
Publisher: Purdue University Press
ISBN: 1557533830
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 215

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Book Description
Animal abuse has been an acknowledged problem for centuries, but only within the past few decades has scientific research provided evidence that the maltreatment of animals often overlaps with violence toward people. The variants of violence, including bullying or assaults in a schoolyard, child abuse in homes, violence between adult intimate partners, community hostility in our streets and neighborhoods, and even the context of war, are now the subject of concerted research efforts. Very often, the association of these forms of violence with cruelty to animals has been found. The perpetrators of such inhumane treatment are often children and adolescents. How common are these incidents? What motivates human maltreatment of animals? Are there cultural, societal, neighborhood, and family contexts that contribute to cruelty to animals? How early in a child's life does cruelty to animals emerge and are these incidents always a sign of future interpersonal violence? Are there ways of preventing such cruelty? Can we intervene effectively with children who already have a history of abuse and violence? Children and Animals: Exploring the Roots of Kindness and Cruelty presents the current scientific and professional wisdom about the relation between the maltreatment of animals and interpersonal violence directed toward other human beings. However, the author, Frank R. Ascione, a noted expert in these areas, writes in a style and presents the findings in a language that will be understandable to parents, teachers, counselors, clergy, animal welfare professionals, foster parents, mental health professionals, youth workers, law enforcement professionals, and anyone else whose work or interest crosses into the lives of children and adolescents.