People's behavior is largely determined by forces not of their own making.Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the claim. In developing and supporting your position, be sure to address the most compelli

Human behaviour has been studied, talked about and debated on from ages - by scientists, researchers, medical practitioners and even those engaged in philosophical and psychological concerns. The prompt tells us that people’s behaviour is determined by forces not of their own making, and I would most likely agree with the prompt but with certain restrictions based on two reasons. I believe that many times people’s behaviour may be dependent on factors out of their control, for example, their childhood or other traumatic incidents that they dealt with throughout the course of their lifetime. Having said that, I also believe that using trauma as a reason to justify unacceptable behaviour, or using “out-of-control” situations as a base for these behavioural traits is not only improper, but also downright unethical.

Consider the case of a child who is born into a family with meagre means and resources, where the father of the family is abusive towards his wife and his children, and an addict to drugs and alcohol. Here, this child may have a traumatizing childhood, and may have to deal with experiences and situations that he isn’t ready to understand yet. Over time, he may face a number of behavioural, mental and emotional problems, such as depression, anxiety and may even develop social relationships in which he is the abuser. Research has shown us, time and again, that multiple people who have been victimized and abused, socially and physically, tend to develop patterns in which they victimize others. This is primarily because their behaviour is largely dictated by their childhood experiences, and breaking out of such a vicious cycle may require therapy, medication and a lot of mental and emotional rejuvenation. Thus, this shows us that the child in this scenario had his behaviour dictated by forces not of his making, and exhibited personality traits that he didn’t choose to develop in the first place.

However, even though I agree that people’s instinctive behaviour may have been developed through years of social conditioning, or that their innate abilities may be a by-product of their experiences throughout their lifetimes, I also believe that people can choose to fight their “instinctive” behaviour by allowing themselves to learn what is correct, morally ethically and justifiable. For example, consider a female growing up in a conservative Indian family. She will be subject to years of social conditioning by family, relatives and friends in matters that vary from LGBT relationships to even colouring her hair red. This is because of a primary stigma in Indian families that has been taking place from generations - the girl is always expected to be on her best behaviour and even simple acts of working after marriage, having friends from the opposite gender and drinking alcohol is considered derogative. Over time, she develops a tendency to judge other females who indulge in these normal acts, and considers them to be vulgar. However, with access to education and social media, there is simply no justifiable reason why she should continue to indulge in these toxic behavioural patterns. She can simply choose to educate herself on the subject at hand, for example, she can learn that LGBT relationships are normal, just as heterosexual relationships, and she can change her instinctive behaviour of deciding to judge people involved in these relationships. Over time, she may even be supportive of situations she once was appalled at. This requires overcoming years of social conditioning, but there is no reason why an adult should choose to indulge in behavioural patterns that are offensive and hurtful to others and themselves, only on the basis that this is what they learnt or that this is how they suffered emotionally throughout their childhood. Thus, even though one’s initial behaviour may be based on factors out of their control, people can always choose to learn, re-learn and adapt to situations based on their new learning’s.

We can also connect this to the example of the child who was mentally and physically abused and had a traumatic childhood experience. I agree that the child may find it difficult to cope and may exhibit an amount of unacceptable behaviour, however, once he reaches adulthood and engages in social and romantic relationships, using his childhood experience to behave improperly is incorrect. As adults, we are responsible for our own baggage, and it is in his benefit to consider working on his emotions - through therapy or other forms. Therefore, he cannot use his experiences as excuses, and doing so might lead him to have no social connections or bonds as people may not want to be associated with such a person.

In conclusion, I would like to say that even though there are reasons or situations in which a person’s behavioural traits may be dependent on forces or factors out of their control; this cannot be used as a factor to justify constant toxic, hurtful or harmful behaviour. Our attitudes and behaviour is constantly changing, and we must learn to adapt so that we can evolve into being decent human beings with functional and justifiable behaviour.