StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Could Hypnosis be a Useful Tool for the Police - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
This paper gives an ansewer for the question "Could Hypnosis be a Useful Tool for the Police?". Hypnosis has been used by ancient people in temples and shrines with the belief that it induced sleep or healing to patients. Hippocrates heavily emphasized on the essence of harmony between mind and body…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER91.7% of users find it useful
Could Hypnosis be a Useful Tool for the Police
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Could Hypnosis be a Useful Tool for the Police"

Could Hypnosis be a Useful Tool for the Police? al Affiliation Could Hypnosis be a Useful Tool for the Police? Introduction James Braid, who was a surgeon coined the term hypnotism, an abbreviation for neuro-sleep or neuro-hypnotism was established by a surgeon known as James Braid. The term hypnosis comes from the Greek language and was taked from the word Hypnos meaning sleep. The originator of the term stated that hypnosis is different from regular sleep and defined because it is related to the nervous system. As such, the condition is motivated by an abstract and fixed attention of the visual and mental focus on an object of interest (Gezundhajt, 2007). Braid refined the definition later on stating that it involved the the induction of a habit that comes about from mental focus where the power of the mind is focused on a single object. Hypnosis was also used in primitive cultures as an aspect of cure and also social change in society where individual were trained to focus on a single most important issue. It is widely known that witchdoctors and priests for a long time used hypnosis to train the conscious part of the mind for people who seek their services. In many societies, witchcraft or other practises where hypnosis was used involved chanting of rhythmic beating of drums superimposed on a ritual. From the above, it can be clearly stated that hypnosis is real and brings about healing but requires more research into it (Gezundhajt, 2007). Historically, hypnosis has been used by ancient people in temples and shrines with the belief that it induced sleep or healing to patients. For instance, Hippocrates heavily emphasized on the essence of harmony between mind and body and hence described the body as a seat of emotion highlighting an aspect of hypnosis. The bible can also be stated to have included aspects of hypnosis. In the past, medicine relied on remedies, and folklore and had little scientific basis meaning that hypnosis was at the centre of both. In the development of the hypnosis, Romans such as Paracelsus emphasized that heavenly pressures had an effect on diseases and people’s ability to heal through a universal magnetic field (Fromm & Nash, 1992). In 1765, a Viennese doctor stated that people had the ability to use the magnetic fluid in their treatment. This made him come up with salons that he used on patients to bring about healing using magnets. During the Great War, Germans used hypnosis to treat the shell shock and it proved to be significant making it possible to bring soldiers to trenches rapidly. A German doctor Schultz also contributed to the understanding of hypnosis by creating a form of hypnosis called autogenic training that contributed to the understanding of the subject. In hypnosis, the patient only responds to the person doing the procedure. The patient ignores all other environmental factors and responds to the things that the hypnotist has introduced (Kirsch, Montgomery & Sapirstein, 1995). The patient’s senses is directed to the directions of the hypnotist only. Patients can also be helped to learn self-hypnosis and be able to administer it themselves for personal healing. One can respond to hypnosis or fail. (Milling, Kirsch, Meunier & Levine, 1992). Other people that have contributed to the understanding of hypnosis include Joe Griffin and Ivan Tyrell who the founders of the humans given approach. They consider hypnosis as an artificial way to access REM where dreams occur when people are asleep. The authors explain that this is the main reason for the fact that people in a post-hypnotic state have different senses because what they focus in is varied. They also observe that hypnosis is preceded by Hypnotic induction (Kirsch, Montgomery & Sapirstein, 1995). Traditionally, hypnosis was considered as a method of putting an individual in a dreaming instance. However, this has been developed further in the current world and includes aspects of consiciousness rather than the unconscious. For instance, the eye fixation technique is an example of a conscious activity that was invented by Braid. Eye fixation approach exists in different ways including the famous induction used in the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale for research in the field. However, after further investigations, Braid noted that that this method was less important in the field. The hypnotic induction can be used to explain individuals’ imagination in their daily activities and lives. The fact that hypnosis targets the senses and specifically imagination makes it real. Therefore, the differences between the understanding of hypnosis today and in the past can be made through the hypnotic induction method (Woody, Drugovic & Oakman, 1997). Different stages of hypnotism have been used to show the use of hypnosis including its reality. Braid developed the stages of hypnosis and referred to them as the first and the second conscious stages of hypnotism. However, after seeing that these stages did not represent what he wanted he changed them to sub-hypotonic, full hypnotic and hypnotic comma stages. Jean Martin also contributed to the stages of hypnosis by creating three different ones that he referred to as lethargy, catalepsy, and somnambulism. This was not the end of it because another researcher known as Ambrose introduced more complex stages basing them on a combination of subjective, behavioural and physiological responses. When the Stanford scale of hypnotic susceptibility was introduced in 1959, it introduced 12 items of suggestion to test in hypnosis and was followed by a standardized hypnotic eye-fixation method to be used for induction. Since then, the scales that have been introduced have concentrated on degree of self-evaluated responsiveness. These scales have been used widely and have proved to be significantly efficient and also provide positive results of hypnosis tests. As such, they have been used to clinically test persons with dissociative identity disorder and also individuals with the posttraumatic stress disorder (Braffman & Kirsch, 1999). Hypnotherapy can be referred to as the use of hypnosis in the field of Psychotherapy. Psychologists have used it to treat different conditions especially involving mental health including conditions such as depression, sleeping disorders, eating disorders, anxiety and posttraumatic stress. Hypnotherapists have also used hypnosis to treat smoking and weight management because they are related to mental fixation. Hypnotherapy has proved to be significantly helpful in the treatment of psychological disorders, for instance the ones listed above. It has been combined with cognitive therapies to bring about reliable results. Hypnosis helps in developing confidence, which an important attribute in the healing process in persons with mental conditions, which proves that hypnotherapy is important in mental training (Nogrady, McConkey & Perry, 1985). Modern hypnotherapy has been used in a variety of forms with varying success. These include fears and phobias and clinical hypnosis combined with elements of cognitive behavioural therapy. Others include pain management, relaxation and skin disease. Hypnosis is also effective in the reduction of pain from chronic conditions and cancer (Nash, 1987). Symptoms of incurable diseases and nausea can also be managed by hypnosis. Some practitioners have claimed that hypnosis may also control fatal diseases. It cannot however influence the development of cancer. Other uses in the management of pain include reliving of pain during dental surgery. Researchers have also reported that it can also help patients that have dental pain. Hypnotic methods have been found to be a very fruitfully reduction of anxiety in severe mental patients (Labelle, Laurence, Nadon & Perry, 1990). Hypnosis has been used in a variety of conditions other than mental conditions. For instance, it has been applied in the treatment of skin diseases where success has been realized in treating conditions, such as warts and atopic dermatitis. It has also been helpful when applied with hypnopaedia in the virtual gastric band procedure to train alimentary habits. It has also been applied by nurses in the treatment of symptoms, such as arousal, anxiety and negative behaviors. However, the use of hypnosis in this field is restricted because it can only be used where physicians and nurses have relevant training on the associated clinical side effects. A study conducted on the use of hypnosis to stop smoking showed a success rate of 20 to 30%. Another study done on the use of hypnosis on pulmonary conditions revealed that patients admitted for pulmonary ailments because of smoking used hypnosis to quit the behaviour and had a double chance of success (Bailey, 2009). In conclusion, hypnosis can be referred to as a methd used by clinicians to make suggestions or proposals to people who have undergone a procedure to help them focus their minds on particular things and relax. It dates back to centuries ago and has supporters as well as critics. Nevertheless, it is an important phenomenon. The police cannot use hypnosis as a tool in investigations because it could lead to inconsistencies. In addition, it is not developed for use in such a setting unless further development is made. Despite the fact that its use has been controversial, it is widely accepted that it is powerful and effective technique in therapeutic treatments for conditions, such as pain, anxiety and mood disorders. It has also been proven that it can help people overcome certain behaviours such as smoking or alcoholism. The studies that have been done on the subject and its use in different areas show that hypnosis is real. However, due to the inconsistencies with respect to the information regarding its use, the police cannot depend on it because police work must be accurate and consistent. Hypnosis cannot provide assurance for accuracy and consistency. Therefore, until the two aspects are proven, it is difficult for the police to use it in their work. Some of the areas that have attracted the application of hypnosis include pain management and treatment of skin disorders, nausea and symptoms of incurable diseases and dental surgery among others. Mostly, it has been used clinically showing that its use in security issues, such as police work is not researched and cannot be depended upon until proper researchers are done. References Bailey, G. (2009). Creating trance and hypnosis scripts. Winchester, UK Washington: O Books. Braffman, W. & Kirsch, I. (1999). Imaginative suggestibility and hypnotizability: An empirical analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77, 578-587. Fromm, E. & Nash, M. (1992). Contemporary hypnosis research. New York: Guilford Press. Hypnotic analgesia Gezundhajt, H. (2007). An evolution of the historical origins of hypnotism prior to the twentieth century: between spirituality and subconscious. Contemporary Hypnosis, 24(4), 178-194. Kirsch, I., Montgomery, G., & Sapirstein, G. (1995). Hypnosis as an adjunct to cognitive- behavioral psychotherapy: A meta-analysis. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 63, 214-220. Labelle, L., Laurence, J.-R., Nadon, R., & Perry, C. (1990). Hypnotisability, preference for an imagic cognitive style, and memory creation in hypnosis. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 99, 222-228. Milling, L. S., Kirsch, I., Meunier, S. A., & Levine, M. R. (1992). Hypnotic analgesia and stress innoculation training: Individual and combined effects in analog treatment of experimental pain. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 26, 355-371. Nash, M. (1987). What, if anything, is regressed about hypnotic age regression? A review of the empirical literature. Psychological Bulletin, 102, 42-52. Nogrady, H., McConkey, K. M., & Perry, C. (1985). Enhancing visual memory: Trying hypnosis, trying imagination, and trying again. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 94, 195-204. Woody, E. Z., Drugovic, M., & Oakman, J. M. (1997). A re-examination of the role of non- hypnotic suggestibility in hypnotic responding. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72, 399-407. Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Could Hypnosis be a Useful Tool for the Police Essay”, n.d.)
Could Hypnosis be a Useful Tool for the Police Essay. Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/psychology/1691417-could-hypnosis-be-a-useful-tool-for-the-police
(Could Hypnosis Be a Useful Tool for the Police Essay)
Could Hypnosis Be a Useful Tool for the Police Essay. https://studentshare.org/psychology/1691417-could-hypnosis-be-a-useful-tool-for-the-police.
“Could Hypnosis Be a Useful Tool for the Police Essay”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/psychology/1691417-could-hypnosis-be-a-useful-tool-for-the-police.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Could Hypnosis be a Useful Tool for the Police

Hypnosis and Placebos: Response Expectancy as a Mediator

The article ‘hypnosis and Placebos: Response expectancies as mediator of Suggestion Effects' by Irving Kirsch is highly relevant in the present time of advancing medical science that has cast a little shadow over the efficacy and effectiveness of hypnotization as a process… hypnosis is based on hypnotic suggestions that are designed to produce related change of physiological response in the subject who is being hypnotised.... The modern science has, on the other hand, frowned on the cause and consequences of hypnosis basically because of the belief that the responses produced by the hypnotic process can also be otherwise produced....
4 Pages (1000 words) Lab Report

Hypnosis as the Natural Condition of Selective Focused Concentration

The paper "hypnosis as the Natural Condition of Selective Focused Concentration" states that people with a strong and open imagination will respond to hypnosis as they will be able to do everything the hypnotist is saying.... hellip; hypnosis is one of those phenomena that are still extremely fascinating to the human mind.... Many people's pain has been cured by this enthralling process of hypnosis.... hypnosis is the natural condition of selective focused concentration, it is 100 percent normal however it still is considered to be the most mesmerizing phenomena while talking about the human mind....
7 Pages (1750 words) Essay

Self-Hypnosis as a Stress-Management Technique

Self-hypnosis proves to be an effective stress management technique since it influences subconscious level and helps either change perception or eradicate stressful thoughts.... There are only few people who cannot be influenced by hypnosis.... Self-hypnosis is a great means of relaxation as the brain-wave patterns are similar to natural relaxing situations.... This paper concentrates on the mechanism of self-hypnosis and explains the reasons of its effectiveness....
4 Pages (1000 words) Admission/Application Essay

Hypnosis: Definition, Uses and Common Myths

The author focuses on the uses and common myths of hypnosis.... The author states that hypnosis refers to a state of intense mental relaxation and concentration.... The effects of hypnosis are varied with different people.... Ernest Hilgard did experiments to demonstrate how perception can be dramatically altered by hypnosis.... hypnosis can be used for medical treatment for various chronic pain and episodes like rheumatoid arthritis....
4 Pages (1000 words) Term Paper

Pain-Managing Function of Hypnosis

In the paper “hypnosis” the author analyzes two approaches towards explaining this phenomenon, altered state and non-state theories: the former implying that hypnosis is a state of trance and the latter understanding it as peculiar type of role enactment in imagination.... hellip; The author states that nowadays, hypnosis is widely and often successfully applied in psychotherapeutic and clinical practices for treating both adults and children....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

Could Hypnosis Be a Useful Tool for the Police

The paper "Hypnosis in Police" concerns an effective tool for police investigations.... hellip; The issue of hypnosis as an effective tool for police is rather contradictory, as hypnosis itself is a very disputable thing.... However, there must be a code that would provide people with safety and assurance that police workers would use professional hypnotizers only and wouldn't abuse their authority during hypnosis sessions.... Concerning the work of police, hypnosis can be applied on witnesses of crimes in order to help them to retrieve the memories of the events that often get suppressed into unconscious and people can't remember them because of being shocked (Perfect et....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

What Makes a Good Hypnotic Suggestion

hypnosis is a process by which a clinician or a hypnotist leads an individual into a suggestive state often called an altered state of consciousness.... The person being hypnotized will experiences changes in feelings, sensations, behaviors perceptions hypnosis is a process by which a clinician or a hypnotist leads an individual into a suggestive state often called an altered state of consciousness.... The clinician is a large part of the process of hypnosis....
8 Pages (2000 words) Essay
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us