Free will and Determinism

• This is a debate which concerns whether or not behaviour is freely produced by choice or whether it is caused by forces (internal or external) over which the individual has no control
• Hard determinism excludes any possibility of free will and includes psychic determinism which suggests behaviours are governed by unconscious instincts and drives (rooted in childhood)
• Environmental determinism is the idea that traits/behaviours are governed by external forces (like experience)
• Biological determinism is the idea that internal biological factors (like genes) govern behaviour
• Soft determinism allows for some free will (for example, Banduras 'reciprocal determinism'), it acknowledges that we have an influence on our environment and our environment has an influence on us
• Free will is the ability to make choices in life
• We can see biological determinism in forensic psychology- Tiihonen found that the MAOA and CDH 13 gene were responsible for 5-10% of violent crime in Finland
• Free will is seen as important within the humanistic approach- everyone can assert this and influence their own personal destiny. Humans are capable of change their own environment. This is radically different from all the other approaches
• Determinism relates to the scientific emphasis on causal relationships where behaviour has been caused by something that is not controlled by the individual. Scientific evidence is produced to support causation, and thus determinism
• Free will is subjective and impossible to test as it is difficult to quantify and measure- but it does seem intuitively correct, and most feel they have some control over actions/behaviours
• If the behaviour is due to internal/external forces, it is not the individuals fault. This causes problems for the legal system and accepting determinism as the reason for a serious crime could set a worrying precedent in court
• There is brain scan evidence to support determinism- Libet detected unconscious brain activity about 1/2 second before participants made conscious decisions