iIntroduction
For this essay I will be looking at Psychological and sociological approaches and how they influence the delivery of care. I will be looking at two case studies (Mark and Rosa) and discussing how psychology and sociology influence human behaviour and how it can assist professionals to understand each individual person. Throughout the essay, I will be using three theorists, Bowlby, Pandora and Sigmund Freud. using their theories to analyse each case individually. Finally, I will evaluate my findings and summarise with a conclusion.
Psychology is the scientific study of the behaviour of individuals and their mental processes. It is a diverse subject area that deals with emotions, and we may not realise it, but as healthcare professionals, we use psychology throughout our working day to assess patients, as well as ourselves. We use this method to help recognise issues that can affect how patients deal with certain situations and to understand certain behaviours.
Sociology is also a scientific study observing social relationships and organisations. It is the critical understanding of ways people relate to one another through the organisation of society, and how its arrangements and values influence our lives. It is an analysis and explanation of important matters in the community and personal lives.
Mark.
Mark is a 15 year old boy whose parents are concerned with how he is behaving both at home and at school. Mark has been bullied at school in the past and this has affected his work. He is close to his grandmother Rosa and his parents have become increasingly worried about how she could be influencing his behaviour. One of the main concerns is that he is suspected of self-harming however, he would try to avoid this topic and becomes angry at whoever approaches him on the subject.
Marks close attachment to Rosa and following her beliefs, displays as an Authoritarian personality. An Authoritarian personality can be described as someone’s state of mind or attitude in relation to their own beliefs or disbelief in obedience or submission to ones own authority (Psychologist world, 2015). Adorn et al created ‘the F-Scale’ This could be someone that has their own set of values and outlooks and may have a tendency to be hostile towards groups of people that do not have the same beliefs as displayed in Marks aggressive and dismissive behaviour towards his parents.
Bowlby's attachment theory relates to Mark and Rosas clear attachment, as he suggests that children are born with an instinctive need to form attachments. Such attachments aid in survival by ensuring that the child receives care and protection and are characterised by clear behavioural and motivational patterns, meaning that both children and caregivers engage in behaviours designed to ensure closeness. Children attempt to stay close and connected to their caregivers, providing a safe and secure base for exploration. When comparing Banduras personality theory with another, for instance, Bowlbys theory suggests that Identification occurs with another person and involves taking on observed behaviours, values, beliefs and attitudes of the person with whom they are identifying to. This relates to attachment to specific models that possess qualities seen as fulfilling. Children will have a number of people with whom they identify. These may be people in their immediate world, such as parents or older siblings. The incentive to identify with a particular person is that they have a quality that the individual would like to possess. This is evident with how Mark has started to shadow the religious beliefs that Rosa adheres to. Also in relation to Marks religious beliefs, he believes that God is to blame for his sisters’ disability.
People learn through observing others’ behaviour, attitudes, and outcomes of those behaviours. “Most human behaviour is learned observationally through modelling: from observing others, one forms an idea of how new behaviours are performed, and on later occasions this coded information serves as a guide for action.” (Bandura, 1925). Banduras social learning theory explains human behaviour in terms of continuous reciprocal interaction between cognitive, behavioural, and environmental influences. Fundamentally, what he believes is that human behaviour is effected by and affects the world/environment around them. Bandura believes that Human behaviours and personalities are developed over time by their experiences, based upon what they encounter. He also believed that what humans observe on a daily basis directly relate and contribute to how their behaviours and personalities develop.
Briefly viewing Marks home life, it would appear that his upbringing may not have been stable due to family issues, for instance, Marks father does not feel he has a close relationship with his children, works long hours and has recently acquired a minor drinking problem. His mum spends a lot of her time caring for his younger sister who has a disability. In summary, it would appear that Mark could have possibly been neglected by a lack of support from his parents due to other distractions and issues. There is a great deal of research on the social development of children and John Bowlby offered one of the earliest theories of social development. Bowlby believed that early relationships with caregivers play a major role in child development and continue to influence social relationships throughout life.
Researchers have also extended upon Bowlby's work and have suggested that a number of different attachment styles exist. Children who receive regular support and care are more likely to develop a secure attachment style, while those who receive less reliable care may develop an ambivalent, avoidant, or disorganized style (Bowlby, 1929),
Mark displays the traits of an introvert. People who are introverted tend to be inward turning or focused more on internal thoughts, feelings and moods rather than seeking out external stimulation, (Cherry 2017). He seems to lack any social skills both in school and out of school. As mentioned previously, Mark has been bullied at school in the past and this can has a detrimental affect both mentally and physically. ‘Socialization is the means by which human infants begin to acquire the skills necessary to perform as a functioning member of their society and is the most influential learning process one can experience. Unlike other living species, whose behaviour is biologically set, humans need social experiences to learn their culture and to survive. Although cultural variability manifests in the actions, customs, and behaviours of whole social groups, the most fundamental expression of culture is found at the individual level. This expression can only occur after an individual has been socialized by his or her parents, family, extended family, and extended social networks.
Harley Therapy (2017) gives information to gain a better understanding of the rationale behind marks physical and mental tendencies and researching his background delivers many answers to his negative behaviour. The issues faced at school and at home may be overwhelming, and Mark could be trying to cope with negative feelings such as frustration, loneliness or anger. Therefore, a combination of these feelings, could lead to self-harming as this may seem like a way to take back control in something, this could also be a way of regaining self-ownership in result of the neglect or bullying. Any type of self-harming can be a way of calling for attention or help.
Rosa
Rosa Lives with her daughter, son in law and their three children. Rosa was her husbands carer for 4 years before he passed away. Rosa is a catholic with strong religious beliefs and stated that if it were not for her religion she would have committed suicide. She practices lent and appears to be neglecting herself with personal care needs and malnutrition. Rosas family are becoming increasingly worried about her overall wellbeing and the affects they are having both on herself and their son Mark.
Bowlbys attachment theory suggests that if a bereaved individual does not demonstrate a grief response suggestive of stress, they must be emotionally cold and distant, a state which has arisen possibly from a lack of secure attachment in childhood. Rosa displays this response when she mentions that she does not understand what gods plan is for her as a result of losing her husband. Now that Rosa no longer has all of her time used up by caring for her husband, she now has all this free time to herself that could have possibly resulted in the rationale to her deep thoughts and physical changes. She is now neglecting herself and not eating properly and as mentioned previously, influencing her grandson Mark in a negative way.
Rosas Thought processes, motivation, behaviour patterns and changes in environmental conditions, displays a lack of incentive to act or persevere in the face of difficulties and setbacks, how much stress and depression she is experiencing in coping with environmental demands. Pandura believes that People rely partly on their emotional states in judging their abilities. They interpret their stress reactions and tension as signs of in efficacy. Mood also affects judgements of personal efficacy with positive mood enhancing perceived self-efficacy and despondent diminishing it. Motivation having a good reason to imitate. Includes motives such as past (i.e. traditional behaviourism), promised (imagined incentives) and vicarious (seeing and recalling the reinforced model) (Bandura, 1925).
Freuds Psychodynamic Theory (Freud 1917) suggests that the individual identifies with the lost person, so that repressed anger towards the lost person is directed inwards towards the self. The inner-directed anger reduces the individual’s self-esteem, and makes him/her vulnerable to experiencing depression in the future.
Freud (1917) distinguished between actual losses (e.g. death of a loved one) and symbolic losses (e.g. loss of a job) which would represent Rosas full time job as her husbands carer. Both kinds of losses can produce depression by causing the individual to re-experience childhood episodes when they experienced loss of affection from some significant person.
In order to avoid loss turning into depression, Freud suggests that a person needs to engage in a period of mourning work, during which they will recall memories of the lost one. This allows the individual to separate him/herself from the lost person, and so reduce the inner-directed anger. However, individuals very dependent on others for their sense of self-esteem may be unable to do this, and so remain extremely depressed.
Rosa resides in her daughters home ever since her husband died, therefor living in a different environment to that of her previous home, could affect Rosas state of mind, and the way she copes with the different surroundings. Bandura (1998) believes that the world and a person’s behaviour cause each other, while behaviourism states that their environment causes the behaviour. Bandura considered personality as an interaction between three components: the environment, behaviour, and psychological processes.
Summary
To summarise the application of psychology and sociology to healthcare and its Implications for health and social care settings, it is evident when researching various theorists analysis of certain behavioural tendencies that in applying these to healthcare could help to understand a certain person’s needs and requirements to support in a persons growth both physically and mentally.
Whilst researching theorists and their theories, each argument or claim have their own positive and negative points, in that one may agree with another, or two may work side by side to support the other. For example, Banduras theory of personality works in collaboration with Freuds Psychodynamic theory, therefore combining them together could manifest a broadminded plan in the development of a person.
Conclusion.
To conclude, having researched the variant theories, I now understand the difference between psychological and sociological factors of a person, the differences and how it affects a persons life as a whole. Overall, culture and environment have a huge impact on child development. The amount that either will influence will change over time. For example, when family predominately surrounds a child at a young age, culture may have more of an impact. However, as that child gets older other environmental factors such as peers relationships may have the bigger impact. However when it comes to an older person it seems the opportunity to adapt their behaviours can be extra challenging because of their stage in their lifecycle and views on change so late into life. So as healthcare providers we need to be aware of the different cultures in our workplace and consider this in our care plans.
Word count 2035 (inclusive of in-text citations).
References
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