Psychology/Sociology Forum

[BwhoUR]

Psychology is a strong proponent of the mindset of religion, atheism, deism, and agnosticism and Sociology the study of groups of people. Many topics can be discussed under this Forum that would be extremely informative and entertaining.

Some topics I was thinking of involve these areas and religion are:

Mass hysteria
Self Hypnosis
Free Will
Child Development
Mind Control
Indoctrination
Faith
Tradition/Practices
Demographics
Abstract Belief
Evolution of the Mind
Spiritual Thinking
Thought Crime
Abuse
Peer Pressure
Substance Abuse
Religious Thinking vs. Critical Thinking
Sensitivity
Magic
Disproportion of the Sexes in Religion
Religious Culture
Stigmatism
Spirituality
Love

What do you all think? Can we use another Forum?

[Haven]

I'd LOVE the idea of a sociology (and psychology) forum!

[Hamsaka]

[Replying to post 1 by suckka]

Especially the social psychology angle. I can see this kind of subforum being a great challenge for both 'sides' to support. In a way, social psychology and psychology alone can be addressed in most forums, but they end up being incidental to another subject. It's more difficult to support a position grounded in sociology and psychology due to the nature of the data obtained. There is also a perceived antagonism between fundamentalist worldview and the study of the human mind and character, very similar in nature to that of empirical science. It will be interesting to see what would come up in such a subforum!

[WinePusher]

What do you all think? Can we use another Forum?

Sure, we could use another subforum. Should this forum be devoted to psychology and sociology, two subjects that are considered by many people to be pseudoscience? No. If we're going to have another subforum, at least make it about a respectable subject like math, or physics, or medicine, or some other hard science.

Now, some aspects of psychology are incredibly scientific, particularly those areas that overlap with the cognitive sciences. Stephen Pinker, imo, is a brilliant experimental psychologist who is also a great scientist but the field overall seems to be in a hole. We've just recently found out that many of the results obtained in psychology journals can't even be replicated, and at the same time some psychology journals have opted to ban p-values (p values are crucial in hypothesis testing).

And I don't even know what to make of sociology anymore. The content being taught in undergrad sociology courses makes me cringe. If the discipline would put more emphasis on quantitative methods then there wouldn't be a problem, but unfortunately it seems more and more emphasis is being placed on this critical theory/deconstructionist method of inquiry.

[BwhoUR]

[Replying to post 4 by WinePusher]

Not to debate the point, which for some behavioral reason I seem compelled to do here, Intelligent Design is a pseudoscience, nevertheless it is debated here a lot. Psychology uses scientific methods appropriate to the area being studied and is peer reviewed. An example is criminal psychology which is used to interrogate and predict criminal behavior to solve crimes.

[bluethread]

[Replying to post 4 by WinePusher]

Not to debate the point, which for some behavioral reason I seem compelled to do here, Intelligent Design is a pseudoscience, nevertheless it is debated here a lot. Psychology uses scientific methods appropriate to the area being studied and is peer reviewed. An example is criminal psychology which is used to interrogate and predict criminal behavior to solve crimes.

You mean profiling!

That said, WinePusher seems to be arguing for Psychiatry over Psychology, and Social Analysis over Sociology.

[WinePusher]

Not to debate the point, which for some behavioral reason I seem compelled to do here, Intelligent Design is a pseudoscience, nevertheless it is debated here a lot.

Fair point.

Psychology uses scientific methods appropriate to the area being studied and is peer reviewed. An example is criminal psychology which is used to interrogate and predict criminal behavior to solve crimes.

Yes, I already conceded this. Some aspects of psychology do successful employ the scientific method. But as I also mentioned, the field is currently in crisis as many of the results found in psychology journals can't be replicated.

We already have a science and religion sub forum for science issues related to religion, so I don't see how another sub forum devoted to two social sciences is necessary. If there's going to be a new sub forum I suggest it be for all general science issues non related to to religion.

[BwhoUR]

[Replying to post 4 by WinePusher]

Not to debate the point, which for some behavioral reason I seem compelled to do here, Intelligent Design is a pseudoscience, nevertheless it is debated here a lot. Psychology uses scientific methods appropriate to the area being studied and is peer reviewed. An example is criminal psychology which is used to interrogate and predict criminal behavior to solve crimes.

You mean profiling!

I know right? But profiling is a tool used by criminal psychologists to solve crimes, when used appropriately it is a very good tool. Let me give you an example. A pregnant woman is killed in a single-car accident. Criminal Psychology has discovered not only that the number one cause of death of a pregnant women is the father of the child but why that is. Knowing this, an investigator may look more closely at the accident to find out if there was any tampering with the brakes and may find out that there is. If he has no other leads, he would first look at the father.

Psychology can also help to determine why a father might kill the mother of their child. We were just debating about this very thing on another thread and the strong feelings of having no control over a pregnancy by males was clear and warranted. This psychological information can help men in this situation and maybe even prevent these types of murders from happening with new laws, counseling, and education.

Can it be used inappropriately? Of course, such as when poorly-trained police officers use profiling to target minorities or, like the movie Gone Girl, when profiling was used to frame her husband by focusing the police on him. But just because it can be used with ill intent, should we throw the baby out with the bathwater?

[Hamsaka]

We have a Current Events forum, a Religion and Sexuality forum, and a bunch of forums that 'lack' distinguished empiricism. There is no need to hold the idea of a Sociology/Psychology and Religion subforum to any other ideal than that as how these realms dovetail, come into conflict, or support one another.

This is personal observation, so I'm curious to hear from others; is sociology and psychology (and psychiatry, for that matter) rather dismissed and unwelcomed by mainstream Christianity? Or maybe the more fundamentalist end of the spectrum? Certainly there are concepts in both that conflict with religious tenets (read: cast religious concepts in an 'unhealthy' light). I can't count how many times I've heard fundamentalist/evangelicals reject the social sciences as 'humanism'.

[bluethread]

Can it be used inappropriately? Of course, such as when poorly-trained police officers use profiling to target minorities or, like the movie Gone Girl, when profiling was used to frame her husband by focusing the police on him. But just because it can be used with ill intent, should we throw the baby out with the bathwater?

I wasn't seriously shocked. I was just being cynical regarding how sociology is used to support an agenda. I personally think that is it's primary use.