Factors Affecting Peoples Well-Being - Essay Example

Factors affecting people’s well-being Introduction Psychosocial well-being reflects on relationships between social and psychological processes. Psychological processes are internal in nature while social processes are external. Psychological processes includes emotions, perception, understanding, thoughts and feelings while social processes include; community, family, the environment, as well as social networks. These factors can affect human beings either negatively or positively. However, they contribute a lot to the well-being of a person. The essay is a critical review of how these factors contribute to the well-being of a person. A story taken from Kozol’s book, “Fire in the Ashes; Twenty-Five Years Among the Poorest Children in America”, is discussed to help understand people’s well-being, and how it is affected by the aforementioned factors. Section three gives an account of social conditions that have contributed to my own well-being. The fourth section gives recommendation on how the community and societal well-being can be improved or promoted. Ecological Analysis: “Fire in the Ashes” Many authors have shown concern over the suffering of Americans living in poor cities and villages. One of the most celebrated authors who have been on the forefront of fighting for the rights of the minorities in America is Jonathan Kozol. Kozol has published several books highlighting societal problems that Americans experience in their day to day activities. In his book, “Fire in the Ashes: Twenty-Five Years Among the Poorest Children in America”, there are several aspects that can be learnt about social well-being. The story of the children Kozol met at the Martinique Hotel highlights tragic moments that befell various characters. Martinique Hotel was the home of people who had nowhere to live. The place hosted thousands of people and children who had come from different parts. It is in this hotel, where Kozol met a family that had experienced harsh lives. Christopher, aged 10 years is one of the characters mentioned in this story. He belonged to the family Kozol met in the hotel, and lived with his parents and two younger siblings. According to what Kozol writes, Christopher occasionally suffered from malnutrition. Kozol would see Christopher running out in traffic begging for money and food. At the age of 10, Christopher had already started traffic drugs along the streets, which saw him arrested and taken to prison (Kozol, 2013). As soon as he was released from prison for the last time, Christopher died from drug overdose. He is one of the boys Kozol writes about who died at early ages, one who died from suicide, and the other one died from surfing on train. Christopher’s two sisters were stable, but despite the best efforts of their parents, harshness of the surrounding made boy’s lives very difficult. The story of Christopher’s family is a good example how psychosocial and material well-being is affected by factors beyond human control. The harsh conditions that the family was subjected to made it hard for the boy to live a good life. As a result of hunger, the boy was forced to loiter along the streets begging for money. Lack of shelter and money represents the material domain of well-being. A family lacking food and shelter is likely to be distressed, and this represents the emotional domain of well-being. depression in a family causes loss in self-control and self-esteem (Diener, 2000). This explains why Christopher sold drugs. Since he lacked food and shelter, he was forced by circumstances to look for food this way, even if it was illegal. This saw he put in jail. The reason why the boy overdosed drugs could be depression as a result of mixed emotions. Christopher and the other children hardly attended school for obvious reasons. When a family lacks food, it is very hard for the children to go to school because it will be not easy for them to understand what they are being taught. Lack of concentration represents the cognitive domain of well-being (Ryff, 2003). It is worth noting that exposure to this elements-lack of food, security, care and shelter- leads to stigma and conflict to the community. It also leads to displacement of some members of the community. The boy who killed himself may have suffered from low self-esteem, and this possibly explains why he had to take his life. To solve problems that negatively affect overall well-being, people living in poor neighborhoods must be supplied with enough food, given shelter, and provided with security. These factors affect overall well-being because providing food alleviates the impacts of hunger. However, unequal distribution of these resources could lead to additional distress because it may offend their personal dignity and culture. Participation and development can also help improve a person’s well-being. Participation is the degree to which a member of an affected community plays an active role in securing his or her own safety, development, and well-being. Emphasis should be placed in working with the affected member to build his or her capacity to meet his or her needs, instead of offering a one-flow of assistance, or providing assistance from outside the affected community. Ecological analysis: My well-being The above story presents a case of a family that experienced hunger, insecurity, women abuse, lack of shelter, and low-self-esteem. These themes are evident throughout the story, and have serious impacts on the character’s well-being. The characters presented in the story suffered from emotional distress brought by physical abuse and low quality lives. My case is a bit different from the one presented in the story. Since I was young, I have been subjected to an enabling environment unlike Christopher who was subjected to harsh environment. I have never experienced hunger and child labor like most of the characters presented in the story. My background is full of learnt people who have inspired me to go to school and get good job. Moreover, I have never lacked food and shelter like the characters presented in the story. Though my life has been smooth, and full of happiness, there are certain things that made my self-esteem go down. When I was attending my middle level studies, the school I was taken did not value my religion. Most of the children I met came from different religions, and had completely different ways of living. Coping with their ways of living was not easy to me, and several times I suffered from low self-esteem. However, I feared of my safety, but as time went on, I befriended a teacher who assured me of my safety. I adapted pretty well to the new environment, and never had wrangles with my friends. My role in promoting community and societal well-being As a citizen of this country, I believe I have a role in promoting overall well-being of the society. My major concern is the families who live in the streets. I believe that it is not their wish to live in the streets. To contribute to their welfare, I plan to organize outreach activities with churches, aid organizations and donors. As a student, I know I cannot do much, but my active participation in outreach activities will help a lot. I often interact with my peers who live in the streets, and tell them the importance of going to school. When I listen to their stories, some would love to go back to school, but all what they lack is financial support. From what I have already learnt, I can develop a project proposal to resettle people living in the streets to better places. However, I do not have enough funds to accomplish my mission. The things I can do right during the campaigns include; creating awareness on the importance of education, as well as wooing donors to supply food and shelter to street families. However, I require more knowledge to deal with the children who have already become drug addicts. Conclusion The paper has discussed several issues that shape people’s wellbeing. Both external and internal factors have been discussed in light with Kozol story, “Fire in the Ashes: Twenty-Five Years among the Poorest Children in America”. Themes like starvation, child abuse, women abuse, harsh environmental conditions, drug abuse, emotional distress, and inequality has been discussed. It has been identified that the environment a person is raised in affects his or her well-being. Poor standards of living promote crimes such as child labor, and early deaths. However, people living in poor neighborhoods are more likely to suffer from emotional stress than those living in rich neighborhoods. I would give myself an A, because my paper addresses all the four sections in a critical manner. The script is not just duplication of theories, but a critical review of what these theories present. Additionally, it critically reviews the Kozols book and the themes presented in it. Generally, the paper meets all the principal requirements of the assignment. References Diener, E. (2000). Subjective well-being: The science of happiness and a proposal for a national index. American psychologist, 55(1), 34. Kozol, J. (2013). Fire in the ashes: Twenty-five years among the poorest children in America. Random House LLC. Ryff, C. D. (2003). Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on the meaning of psychological well-being. Journal of personality and social psychology, 57(6), 1069. Read More