Recounting Past Experiences - Assignment Example

Recounting Past Experiences What makes up an individual? This is a complex question and a philosophical one in nature and one that cannot be answered in a simplistic manner. In psychology, a holistic view of the human person cannot be possible without appealing to the concept of self identity. Self identity is a broad concept encompassing such constructs as personality, cognition, memories and can be defined as how an individual perceives themselves (Erikson, 1968, p.10). Service users are usually not in a conventional family system setting and thus are likely to develop a different self identity; sometimes a maladjusted one (White and Klein, 2002, pp. 23-24). Some of these service users have undergone traumatic experiences or bad experiences that are either forgotten, repressed or others that happened when the service users were too young. The pertinent question then is, should remembrance of the past be used as an integral part of the reconstruction of the self identity of service users? As noted in the introduction, service users may have an abnormal or maladaptive self-identity. In the development of an individual, some steps are necessary and if developmental tasks are not successfully met, an individual may present immediate problems or have problems later in life (Berger, 2008, p. 34). This is supported by the psychodynamic theories of psychology i.e. Freud’s psychosexual approach and Erikson’s psychosocial approach. Freud’s theory is centered on sexual maturity and only focuses on the years before sexual maturity and how not accomplishing the tasks of a certain stage might later affect the development of an individual in a detrimental way. Erikson’s theory on the other hand is more expansive; covering the entire lifespan of an individual and is based on achievement of certain social tasks (Frager and Fadiman, 2005, p.49). The implication of not meeting some of the goals that one is supposed to meet in the developmental stages is dysfunction coupled with problems with one’s self identity. For instance, a child’s separation from the primary care-givers (mother and father) at the age of 0-2years can lead to general mistrust of the world around them (Aronson, Wilson and Arket, 2007, p. 56). Teenagers who do not have the proper support system are likely to develop an identity crisis; a false sense of self or a loss of perspective as regarding their abilities and the situation that they are in (Santrock, 2009, p. 50). Later stages of development like young adulthood and middle adulthood also present issues that might occur in the case of service users namely a sense of isolation and feelings of stagnation respectively. These emanate from the problems of being able to connect with other people in an intimate way and also a lack of an outlet for creativity in a work environment. These two situations arise often in the case of service users some having to rely on welfare, homeless shelters, juvenile facilities and foster homes. Identity can also be an issue in the case where some service users were exposed to abuse; physical, sexual or verbal. These incidents often get ingrained in an individual’s memories and form part of how they view themselves. Studies have shown emotional dysfunction in children who have faced verbal abuse; relational dysfunctions in those exposed to or have been victims of sexual abuse and domestic violence (Feiring, 2005, p. 65). These can be explained by the social learning theory in that these individuals face bad situations and they learn to act as they have seen especially if they are of impressionable age. It should be noted that not all service users are dysfunctional and some studies have found out that some individuals actually are made better by facing these tough situations (Weisner, 2001, p. 34; Harter and Whitesell, 2003, p. 67). There is a multiplicity of factors however that determines if the effects of these incidents will give the individual developmental assets or liabilities; including but not limited to personality, sex and coping mechanisms (Harter and Whitesell, 2003, p. 45). Also, the assets are not outright assets as they may occur in excess making them liabilities e.g. children who had to perform parental roles may be too caring in their adult lives; caring to the extent of unhealthy self-sacrifice for others (West and Keller, 1991, p. 106). Service users that are dysfunctional usually lack the proper knowledge of their dysfunction and those who are in the know regarding their dysfunction lack the insight to deal with the dysfunctions they have. Social services; be they foster care, child protection, welfare systems or broad community initiatives are based in the humanistic maxims of improving the human condition and helping individuals maximise potential; make the individuals complete and functional again(Bronfebrenner, 2004, p. 47). Service workers thus should talk to the service users, show them compassion and empathy, unconditional positive regard and show them that they do not judge them for the situations that they are going through. In doing this, workers can help service users gain an understanding of their past experiences by talking openly about these experiences and offering helpful insights and a different perspective to the service users. Getting rid of a victim mentality and building ego strength is also an important exercise that can be achieved by talking about past experiences. Social services are supposed to provide an emancipatory role; get the service users onto the path of healthy social living and independence (Bronfebrenner, 2004, p. 78). This role can only be achieved if the service workers have an in-depth understanding of the service users that they work with and this can only be achieved by knowing the service users in totality. Each individual has special unique circumstances that presented to make them a service user to start with; knowing these experiences and memories that service users have is the first step towards understanding them (Lymbery, 2012, p. 45) The help that service workers offer ought to be tailor-made to each individual and at the same time based on previous similar cases and leaning the experiences of the service users is likely to give guidance on the dos and don’ts regarding each presenting case. A service user’s sense of self might be pegged around helplessness and despair especially in the case of individuals with long term health problems. It is the work of the service worker to reassure these individuals of their worth and restore a positive sense of self by helping them talk of their experiences, accepting what happened and offer suggestions on how to move forward with life. It is through this dialogue that service workers can understand the unique situation of these service users and their unique situations, abilities, likes and dislikes. To boost their general functioning and social re-integration, a service worker for example may find a job that is more suitable to the service user in the current situation they are in that is still satisfying and offers the right amount of challenge to give them a sense of achievement. Is recounting past experiences helpful for everyone? Certainly not! Unless an individual is ready to deal with the past, it should not be encouraged that they talk of their past experiences. If the service worker feels that it is absolutely necessary for a service user to retrace past experiences but is unstable, it would be advisable for them to provide essential professional psychological services. This would ensure that the recall of past experiences is done in a proper setting and its negative effects dealt with in a decisive manner. An example of a situation when this might be necessary is a service user suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. With such an individual, just talking about the experience in of itself is not effective enough and ought to be accompanied by proper counseling or psychological interventions. It is the role of the service worker then to use their judgment to determine the situations in which the service user would benefit or be harmed by recall of past experiences. Summing this up; the service users are at the centre of every social service and it is their well-being that social workers seek. The self identity of a service user is important as it determines to a large extent the effectiveness of the services that they receive and their transition from dependence on social services to independence. Past experiences form an integral part of each individual and their sense of self; meaning that to understand someone in totality, it is necessary to understand their past. Service workers therefore are supposed to encourage service users to talk of their past in order for them to understand them better and this facilitates their offering of better services. Recounting of past experiences can have a cathartic effect but should be used wisely and only if the service worker is assured that it is the best way forward to a service user’s well-being. List of References Aronson, E., Wilson, T., & Akert, R., 2007. Social Psychology, New York, NY: Pearson Prentice Hall. Berger, K. S., 2008. The Developing Person through the Life Span, New York, NY: Worth Publishers. Bronfebrenner, U., 2004. Making Human Beings Human. New York: Sage Publications. Erikson, E., 1968. Identity; Youth and crisis. New York: W. W. Norton. Feiring, C., 2005. Emotional development, shame, and adaptation to child maltreatment. Child Maltreatment, 10, pp.307–310. Frager, J., & Fadiman, R., 2005. Personality and personal growth, New York, NY: Pearson Prentice Hall. Harter, S. & Whitesell, N. R., 2003. Beyond the debate: Why some adolescents report stable Self-worth over time and situations, whereas other report changes in self-worth. Journal of Personality, 71(6), pp.1027–1058. Lymbery, M., 2012. Social Work and Personalisation. British Journal of Social Work 2012: 27 (1) Pp.27. Santrock, J., 2009. Adolescence 13th ed., Columbus, OH: McGraw-Hill.Weisner, T. S., 2001. Children investing in their families: The importance of child obligation in successful Development. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 94, pp.77–83. West, M. L. & Keller, A. E., 1991. Parentification of the child: A case study of Bowlby’s Compulsive care-giving attachment pattern. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 45, Pp.425–431. White, J. M., & David M. K., 2002. Family Theories, 2nd ed. United Kingdom: Sage Publications, Inc. Read More