PYSCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES Essay Example

studies operant conditioning much like the way Thornier had done in 1905. He also looked at the way rewards and punishments can effect our behavior.

He experimented with rats and pigeons by placing pigeons and rats in a box with a lever that when pulled, released food. While the pigeons and rats moved around the box they would accidentally release he lever. They were rewarded for the action as it releases food.

The rats and pigeons quickly moderated their behavior and over time began to intentionally press the lever in order to get food. (education portal) Psychodrama: The psychodrama perspective focuses on the unconscious mind. It states that our past experiences from child hood influence determine our unconscious behavior.

We are usually unaware of the causes of these behaviors as they are often caused by defense mechanisms such as locking things in the back of our mind (e.

G. Traumatic experiences) cause these behaviors. Sigmund Freud theory was that we are not aware of our unconscious mind and we cannot access the information stored in this part of our brain. However some of the content that has been 'locked away' in the section of our mind is often released through out dreams or when we say something unintentionally (kind of like 'slips of the tongue'). Stretch and Whitehorse, 2007.

Page 383). Freud had a theory that the mind could be separated into three different sections: 1 . The Preconscious mind. This part contains our knowledge and our memories. 2. The Conscious mind.

3. The Unconscious mind. We are not aware of this part of out mind. T is often used as a defense mechanism. It

is the biggest part of out mind and it controls our behavior.

He also said that the psyche can be split into three different sections: 1 . The id, which contains our instincts and seeks instant pleasure or satisfaction.

We are born with this part of our mind and it contains the raw emotions that we are capable of feeling like aggression, lover and sexual instincts. It is the part of our mind that wants what it wants, when it wants it, as it is driven by the pleasure principle. (Stretch and Whitehorse) someone who does not consider or think about peoples feelings r the consequences of their behavior is likely do have a very strong id. They will also be very demanding and aggressive.

2. The superego, is known as our conscience. It contains our morals, values, what is right from wrong and our ideal self image.

This part tries to prevent the id from being too dominant. This develops all through childhood as we repeat actions based on morals and beliefs Someone who is known to have a 'guilty conscience' or is known to be very apologetic has a strong superego. They will try to please people around them and wants to be liked.

3. The last part of the psyche is the ego. This part of the psyche is known as our conscious, rational mind. It seeks to balance out the activity of our superego and our id.

Someone who has a ego which is powerful enough to keep the demand of the id and the superego is likely to seem very mature, sensible and rational.

They will think about others' feelings

as well as considering their own needs. (Stretch and Whitehorse, 2007. Page 383). Freud argued that our personality development comes from the Psycho- sexual life stages. Sigmund Fraud's psychosocial theory basically stated that through our life stages, our Libido focuses on part of the body in specific that re related to the life stages.

He said that this effects our personality because if these milestone are not met, we can become stuck in these or fixated and we cannot move on properly to the following psycho-sexual stage if there are complications or problems. His will effect our behavior and personality through childhood into adult hood. (Stretch and Whitehorse, 2007. Page 384) This first psycho-sexual stage is known as the oral stage and will occur within the first eighteen to twenty months of a child's life. The main focus within thus stage is mouth area and infants will often put thing in and around their touts and will also chew, suck, bite and try' to swallow anything that they can get their hands on. The infant will also enjoy trying new foods and textures.

(Nereid M. Little, 2012).

Freud said that there are two potential reasons why a child could become 'stuck' in this psychosocial stage: Being weaned too early or being weaned too late (Stretch and Whitehorse, 2007. Page 384). The second Stage of Fraud's psychosocial theory is the anal stage.

This will occur between the ages of eighteen months to three years. The main focus of this stage is the parts of the body associated with potty and toilet training. A child could become 'stuck' or fixated on this stage if he or she

is forced or pressured in to being potty or toilet trained before the child is ready. Stretch and Whitehorse, 2007. Page 384) After successfully passing through the anal stage, we move on to the phallic stage.

This stage is passed through at around 6 years and focuses on the genitals. Cognitive: The cognitive perspective focuses on the mental process each person goes through and aims toward understanding these processes, such as: Memory, attention, languages, problem solving and other processes in order to understand curtain human behaviors. Stretch and Whitehorse, 2007. Page 391) Biological: The biological perspective focuses on human life and look into our genes and make up.

It looks and the structures of the nervous system, the brain and hormones etc, in order to understand how they work and what triggers some Humanistic: The humanistic perspective focuses on the understanding of a persons experiences or the hole individual.

It expresses ideas of free will, basic needs and the capability of making own choices. Carl Rogers and Abraham Moscow were both psychologists that studied and developed theories about the humanistic approach (Stretch and Whitehorse, 2007.

Page 387) Abraham Moscow was the psychologist who developed the 'Hierarchy of Needs' theory. He believed that in life, we are all trying to reach out maximum potential in al aspects of life, I. E. Physically, emotionally and intellectually etc.

Moscow developed this basic theory called 'The Hierarchy of Needs'. His theory said that we all aim for self actualization in life but we cannot reach it until all the needs in the diagram above are met. The first need is physiological needs.

These needs are the basic needs each

person should be entitled too (Food, water, shelter, warmth, clothing). The second needs that just be met in order to reach self actualization is safety needs. These needs include for an individual to feel safe and secure in their environment, have freedom and be free from fear and any type of abuse or maltreatment.

Thirdly, the individual must feel a sense of belonging, whether this is found with friends, family, husband, wife or partner. Before finally reaching self actualization a person must gain self esteem and self respect.

The individual will then reach self actualization Carl Rogers said that we all have an image of our ideal self image. This image is set I our mind based on our morals, beliefs and how we think we should e. He said that there are three parts to each individuals self: Self concept. This is how we see ourselves physically and biologically.

Whether we are a boy or girl, blonde hair or brunette hair, dark skinned or pale skinned etc. Self esteem. This is the way we value ourselves for example whether we respect ourselves, what we think about ourselves (thin, over weight etc).

Internalize.

This is what we are told about ourselves, the information we hear about ourselves from the environment we are in ("you're smart", "you're stupid" etc) If we have a negative self concept, low self esteem and listen to everything people say about us (negative too) then we are not likely to reach our ideal self image. If we have high self esteem, a positive self concept and we don't listen to negative cements about ourselves from the environment around us, then we

are more likely to reach our ideal self image.

Psychological Approached in Relation to Health and Social Care: Behaviorism Approach: In relation to health and social care, the behaviorism approach can be used to understand behaviors. For example, it could be used in social work to determine why offenders re-offend after being realized from prison. This approach can also help therapists while trying to identify reasons for patients' phobias. (Stretch and Whitehorse, 2007.

Page 376). Another reason this approach is used in health and social care IS because behaviors can determine what type of care a service user may need in order to make that individual needs are being met.

Social Learning Theory: The social learning theory is a simple theory that we learn behaviors and actions from our surroundings. This is relevant to health and social care in many ways.

It can help social workers determine why the a young offender has started offended. It helps because if the social worker can gather information about the young persons background, whether they have grown up in an abuse home or an area with a high crime rate, allowing the worker to find out what has caused this or how it has arisen.

Another reason is that it can encourage young people or even adults to live an health life style, if they here a public icon talk about how important a healthy diet and life style is, they may want to make their own life style more healthy like theirs. Psychodrama Approach: With in health and social care, therapists may use this approach with someone who's challenging behaviors cannot be explained. For example, is someone

where to suffer with extreme anxiety and there was no apparent reason, therapists would use this approach to try and access information stored in the persons unconscious mind to explain the behavior.

An example of this would be is a service user had gotten trapped in a dark, small place when they were a child, they may have put the traumatizing memory at the back of their mind as a defense mechanism.

Then later on in life, they could develop extreme claustrophobia and anxiety. This would also help the therapist know how interact with the service user effectively. Humanistic Approach: From Carl Rogers' humanistic approach, the 'unconditional positive regard' was developed and if now used (or should be) in most health and social care settings.

The unconditional positive regard is a completely non-judgmental attitude with service users.

This makes sure that no ones individual rights are lost, no one is mistreated or discriminated against, that everyone is treated fairly and has equal opportunities and lastly that no one is a victim of prejudice. (Stretch and Whitehorse, 2007. Page 390). Cognitive Approach: In relation to health and social care, this helps staff in all aspects of health ND social care deal with service users who have learning and emotional illnesses such as depression or anxiety.

It helps staff adapt their communication methods o cater for each individuals needs. With someone who has emotional problems it would be important to show empathy and kindness even when they may be hard to communicate with (rude or ignorant). With someone who has learning difficulties you will need to be patient and make sure your speaking as clearly as possible.

You may need to explain things in more detail and it is also important to make that there are no barriers to communication. Biological Approach This approach is relevant in the health and social care provision for many reasons.

Firstly, it helps midwives and nurses while working with young children as the biological approach is about how the body works, so it would tell them the development norms.

It is also relevant because while doctors are diagnosing patient, they look or gather information about inside the body and again, the biological approach tells up how the body works. The biological approach can also help staff with in the health and social care provision because it ca help them understand about curtain illnesses and how service seers with these illnesses may need to be treated.

For example, if an elderly lady in a care home was to have dementia (as the biological approach looks at the brain), they would need to be treated differently as they will often get confused and things will need to be repeated in order for the information to be stored, An Evaluation and Comparison of The Social Learning Theory and Psychodrama Approach The 'Social Learning Theory' and the 'Psychodrama' approach differ in many different ways.

Social Learning Theory is based on the idea of seeing an action or taking an interest in someone or something, memorizing and then beating this action (Seeing Kylie Managua saying how she makes sure she checks her breasts for lumps).

This means that you are aware of your actions, however this is one reason why these two psychological approaches differ, as the psychodrama approach focuses on

behaviors cause by something someone is unaware of which, often, is a result of a memory being 'locked away' in the back of our minds.

There for with the social learning theory, the behaviors are intentional but with the psychodrama approach, the behaviors are unintentional. Secondly, the social learning theory is based on he motivation and memorizing something that has been seen or done, whereas the psychodrama approach is based on the defense mechanism of 'locking away' memories in the back of our mind to forget them. Also, the social learning theories main focus is the behavior of one.

Where was the psychodrama approach looks not only at behaviors, but goes beyond to look at the separate parts of the minds and also looks at mental processes (such as the defense mechanism) in order to find out what has caused the behavior, mentally, and possible solutions to the behavior. However, these two approaches do have some similarities.

Both of these theories are based on passed experiences. What mean by this, is that both of the behaviors were a result in witnesses or experiencing something.

For example, for a teenager to mimic the behavior of Kylie, they had to see her perform or talk about the breast inspection. The same as in order for a memory to be locked to the back of the mind as a defense mechanism, the person must have experienced it (abuse, bullying etc).

Lastly, second similarity is that both of the behaviors in both these theories could have en influenced by their surroundings. For example: If a child were to grow up in a town or village with an extremely high

crime rate and were to hang around in a gang who committed crimes.