Privation
Encyclopedia
In psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...

 and philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...

, privation is the absence or lack of basic necessities. The term can be used in a psychological context, often referring to a lack of relationships, or a philosophical context, where vital concepts are absent.

Privation in psychology

In psychology, privation occurs when a child has no opportunity to form a relationship with a parent figure, or when such relationship is distorted, due to their treatement. It is different to deprivation
Deprivation
Deprivation may refer to:* Poverty* Relative deprivation* Sleep deprivation* Maternal deprivation...

, which occurs when an established relationship is severed. It is understood that privation can produce social, emotional and intellectual problems for children; however, how inevitable such problems become as a result of privation, and the extent to which the can be reversed, remains an issue of debate among psychologist
Psychologist
Psychologist is a professional or academic title used by individuals who are either:* Clinical professionals who work with patients in a variety of therapeutic contexts .* Scientists conducting psychological research or teaching psychology in a college...

s.

Privation in philosophy

In philosophy, privation is used to describe the absence of a necessary quality in the universe. The Augustinian theodicy
Augustinian theodicy
The Augustinian theodicy is a theodicy, a response to the problem of evil. As such, it justifies the existence of an omnibenevolent and omnipotent God in the face of evil and suffering in the world....

 denies the existence of evil
Evil
Evil is the violation of, or intent to violate, some moral code. Evil is usually seen as the dualistic opposite of good. Definitions of evil vary along with analysis of its root motive causes, however general actions commonly considered evil include: conscious and deliberate wrongdoing,...

 as its own entity. Rather, evil is described to be a privation, or going wrong, of good. Conversely, Maimonides
Maimonides
Moses ben-Maimon, called Maimonides and also known as Mūsā ibn Maymūn in Arabic, or Rambam , was a preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and one of the greatest Torah scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages...

 argued that privation is not necessarily a bad thing: it would be trivial to regard the privation of hair - baldness - an evil. Moreover, it has been suggested that not all evil is due to a privation; malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...

, for example, is due to not a lacking, but an excess (in this case, of disease).
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