Table of ContentsIntroductionEating DisordersSocial Learning TheoryConclusionIntroductionEating disorders afflict millions of Americans, and they are serious, even potentially fatal. They are classified as psychiatric disorders and actually have little to do with eating, but rather with underlying issues with self-esteem and other emotional states. They constitute a significant health problem. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay This article explores eating disorders, social learning theory, and how we might use this theory to help someone with the disorder develop a more positive body image. Disorders Eating disorders are more common among adolescents; they are found 10 times more often in girls than in boys; and although they are found in all ethnic groups, they are most common among white people who live in industrialized countries. The most common forms of eating disorders are anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and eating disorders not otherwise specified. Anorexia comes in two forms: the restrictive type and the binge/purge type. Bulimia two comes in two forms: purging and non-purging. (Pritts, P.G.). These are very serious illnesses: the risk of young women developing anorexia is 0.5 to 1 percent, but of those who develop the disease, death results in about 4 to 10 percent of those affected. (Pritts, P.G.). This is a huge number of young women dying because they despise their appearance. Statistics reveal how widespread weight problems are among young people: "In 1999, the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey found that 58 percent of students in the United States had exercised to lose weight. weight, and 40 percent of students had restricted their calorie intake in an attempt to lose weight. The distinction between a normal diet and eating disorders is based on whether or not the patient has a distorted body image. (Pritts, P.G.). The last three words of this phrase, "distorted body image," give us a clue to one of the fundamental concerns of those who treat this disease: that patients care too much about their appearance, which they view as undesirable, even grotesque or obese, even when their weight is within normal limits, or even too low. We can examine the influences on our young people that make them susceptible to these beliefs, and we can also see how social learning theory might be both a partial cause and a potential cure for eating disorders. Social Learning TheorySocial learning theory is often called "modeling" and is probably most closely related to Albert Bandura. Bandura is a highly respected scientist who began his career as a behaviorist, but modified his approach to be generally considered a cognitivist. (Boeree, PG). As such, it considers that behavior, environment and psychological processes come together to form personality. It's his behavioral experiment, known as the "Bobo the Clown" studies, that interests us here, because it shows how powerful modeling is. The "Bobo" experience is as follows: Bobo was/is one of those large inflatable dolls with a round, weighted bottom that rises up when youspill. Bandura filmed one of his students, a young woman, “beating up” Bobo. She hit the doll, shouting “sockeroo” as she did so; kicked him, hit him with hammers, sat on him and generally beat him to death, shouting aggressively. Bandura showed the film to a kindergarten class who, predictably, loved it. The children were then taken to another room where there were various toys, including the Bobo doll. They attacked the doll, hitting it and shouting "sockeroo", sitting on it, hitting it with hammers, etc. They imitated, as closely as possible, the actions of Bandura's student. (Boeree, PG). The importance of this is that the students were neither prompted in any way nor "coached", nor did they approach the doll in guided "steps"; meaning they weren't encouraged to treat something with mild aggression and then gradually become more violent until they attacked the doll. They beat the Bobos without any further incentive, the film being the only incentive for their actions. This surprising result illustrates the power that images have on children; it is fair to conclude that images also have power over adolescents. Even mature adults sometimes “model” their behavior after something they have seen. It is therefore important to see what types of body images adolescents see and how these images can lead them to form a poor image of themselves. It should come as no surprise to anyone that television and film have a huge impact on how teenagers view themselves. ; Hundreds of studies have been carried out on the influence of the media on society. We now know that young women often feel they should look like the actors they see on screen; they don't understand that these actors spend a lot of money and time on their appearance, so maintaining their appearance is actually a full-time job for them. Their faces and bodies are their ticket to work, which is why they spend hours at the gym, at the hairdresser, with their nutritionists, etc. Only these extreme measures allow them to maintain their appearance, and such things are beyond the means of ordinary mortals. . Additionally, the body types that many stars maintain meet the clinical definition of anorexia: they are below a healthy body weight. Yet these ultra-thin, ultra-chic women have become the desirable norm in American society, and young women are literally dying to look like them. Adolescents are particularly sensitive to this kind of pressure. Their bodies are developing and they are trying to form their identity. They may be confused about their sexuality and peer pressure is intense. The less attractive girls (whatever the word "attractive" meant at the time) find themselves left out while the boys pursue the more attractive girls for dates; nor are they popular with their own gender. Cliques form and overweight teens are usually left behind. This is a very difficult time in life, and it's easy to understand why so many children retreat into their imaginations and try to be like their movie idols. It's the same type of modeling we saw in Bandura's Bobo experiments: teenagers see something on the screen that they find desirable and seek to imitate it, without any critical thinking or other prompting. We should now think about how we might use modeling to replace these inaccessible body types with :.