Psychology/clockwork Orange Essays -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A Clockwork Orange is a film about a wild and troubled young lad Alex. Alex and his friends (droogs) get a high from inflicting harm upon others. They commit random acts of robbery and rape around London. Alex, as the ringleader, eventually gets caught and is sent to prison. It is in prison that scientists study Alex’s violent behavior. Scientists believed that through special training or a program that his evil ways could be fixed. Alex was subjected to a conditioning program that would create an unpleasant physical reaction to just the thought of doing harm to another person. Skinner’s theories on behaviorism are introduced in these scenes where the doctors are trying to â€Å"cure† Alex. As part of the conditioning program, Alex is forced to watch films with his eyelids clamped open. His face is then wrapped in electrical straps and wires. He is forced to watch violent scenes and right after those scenes follow crimes that Alex committed with his gang of friends. In the rear of the theater, the doctors watch his reactions and record his behavior. These images of violence in the films induced nausea caused by the injections. As he watches, a feeling of queasiness slowly takes over. The doctors predicts that he will associate the death experience with the violence he sees. After his first session, the nurse later says that Alex has made a very positive response to the conditioning, and he is being cured. The next day the films are being played with ...