A Clockwork Orange: Classical Conditioning

A Clockwork Orange is a film that was based on a novel A Clockwork Orange written in 1962. The film features a young man named Alex DeLarge who is the leader of a gang which he refers to them as "droogs". The setting of the movie is London. Alex is a very disturbed individual who enjoys violence and rape. Alex is arrested for murder and volunteers for a fictional "Ludovico technique" which is supposed to give him an early release from jail.

Classical Conditioning is very relevant in this film. Classical Conditioning is defined as a learning process that occurs through associations between an environmental stimulus and a naturally occurring stimulus. In this film they force Alex watch a series of violent images during the Ludovico procedure. They feel that if he watches these videos and sees these images under the influence of drugs Alex will be cured of his problems. They try to relate his actions that are similar to the ones in the images to something harmful like the effects of the drugs. When he thinks about doing these actions he will remember how he felt when he had the drugs in his system and hopefully not act as he did.