Manipulation: Morally right or wrong?

Manipulation/manipulating seems juxtaposed to reasoning/convincing.


When individuals cannot be easily reasoned with, but their action is necessary, manipulation seems necessary. My problem is with what people think is necessary.
 
Originally Posted by Griffschen
I've seen youth workers do it with clients where I work all the time. instead of coming down hard on them, we manipulate them into doing what we thing is ultimately the best thing for them. We offer rewards for them to stay in school etc, while we make life harder for them if they don't.

i'm not explaining this well sorry. I'm really tired.
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No, no, that makes sense... I'm just wondering at what point in that you start forcing your morals on others...

It makes sense that you have the best intentions, doing these things "for their own good", but ultimately, you are deciding what's good for them... If you apply that principal across the board, that can lead to sticky situations...

I do think the fact that teenagers are still considered kids in our society changes things... but that principal applied to adults can lead to bad things done by people with good intentions "for our own good"...
 
Flavus Aquila said:
Manipulation/manipulating seems juxtaposed to reasoning/convincing.


When individuals cannot be easily reasoned with, but their action is necessary, manipulation seems necessary. My problem is with what people think is necessary.
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Good Point! That is a problem... Who gets to decide what's necessary?
 
Sonyab said:
What type of authority?
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Legitimate, I guess. Someone whose responsibility is to ensure the wellbeing/well-action of a group/individual.

For example, parents enticing their children to do chores is fine... but it seems out of place if strangers were to try to entice children to do chores.
 
Strangers enticing in general seems "out of place" to me except in those psychological thrillers... or the Pied Piper... Creepy!...

I agree with the authority comment though. I think the tricky part comes when people believe they should, or get, to have some kind of authority in someone else's life.

Cause all this begs to ask, what about "interventions" where friends go to drastic measures to ensure that their friend stops do something that they believe is destructive? I'm not saying interventions are bad, I just wonder where they fit in this question of manipulation...
 
Cyrus said:
No, no, that makes sense... I'm just wondering at what point in that you start forcing your morals on others...

It makes sense that you have the best intentions, doing these things "for their own good", but ultimately, you are deciding what's good for them... If you apply that principal across the board, that can lead to sticky situations...

I do think the fact that teenagers are still considered kids in our society changes things... but that principal applied to adults can lead to bad things done by people with good intentions "for our own good"...
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well isn't that what parents do to an extent anyway?

these particular young people come to us because they cannot live with their parents for some important reason. That doesn't however mean that they have more freedom to do whatever they want.

The unfortunate thing is is that if these people aren't actually doing something there's more of a chance that they'll fall into the wrong crowd and get into drugs and crime. The kids come to us are usually suffering in some way, and need good things to focus on.


We're also concerned with their future, because we're trying to stop them falling into a pattern of homelessness, which if not stopped early can actually have devistating effects on their lives.

We don't tell them what to think and what to believe, but there does have to be an acceptance when they come to us that there are certain rules they must follow, and certain things that we do not think they should be doing. Kids have to accept this with their parents too.
 
Cyrus said:
Strangers enticing in general seems "out of place" to me except in those psychological thrillers... or the Pied Piper... Creepy!...

I agree with the authority comment though. I think the tricky part comes when people believe they should, or get, to have some kind of authority in someone else's life.

Cause all this begs to ask, what about "interventions" where friends go to drastic measures to ensure that their friend stops do something that they believe is destructive? I'm not saying interventions are bad, I just wonder where they fit in this question of manipulation...
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Interventions seem too direct to be called manipulation (except in the literal sense of man-handling a friend).

I think some people probably cross the line between intervening and interfering.
 
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