Sociological Perspectives: Social Work - Essay Example

?Case Study (Social Work) Table of Contents Overview of the Case 3 Consideration and Discussion of Sociological Perspectives 3 2. Consideration and Discussion of Psychological Perspectives 5 3. Steps to Be Taken as a Professional Social Worker 6 4. Awareness of Social Work Values and Standards 8 References 10 Appendix 12 Action Plan 12 Overview of the Case The case which has been provided is primarily based upon social activities and life of Margaret Anderson. Margaret is 41 years of age and is married to Cyril who is 47. Robert and Caroline are their children. Margaret is working as a care worker for an agency involved with offering care services for physical and mentally retarded individuals. On the other hand, Cyril is employed with a firm providing stationery as well as office equipments as an office manager. Margaret is observed to be suffering from poor sleep, emotional irritability and other emotional symptoms among others. It can be viewed in the case provided that Caroline, the daughter of Margaret has faced various tortures from her partner Eddy and his family. Caroline attempted to lodge a complaint against Eddy for punching her at the time of pregnancy but didn’t complain due to fear of the involvement of various social services or issues. Margaret is seemed to be suffering from sleep deprivation and has visited GP. The GP has referred her to get examined from the Local Community Mental Health Team in order to study her issues and problems in an appropriate manner. 1. Consideration and Discussion of Sociological Perspectives Sociological perspectives are regarded as those factors that concerns different viewpoints of an individual relating to social world. In precise, sociological perspective is fundamentally regarded as a comprehensive study associated with social life of every communal member or group (Mooney & et. al., 2012; Rosenberg, 1983). In accordance with the case provided, two sociological perspectives like conflict theory and symbolic interactionist aspect can be executed as the tools for understanding, analysing and explaining the situation linked with the case scenario. The aforementioned perspectives have been elaborated hereunder. Symbolic Interactionist Perspective The symbolic interactionist perspective signifies different aspects linked with social life on the basis of which individuals are seemed to deliver their viewpoints and to interact with each other in day-to-day life (Bond & et. al., 1993; Cronk, 1973). This particular aspect i.e. symbolic interactionist object relating to sociological perspective can be taken into concern as a tool to analyse, comprehend and explain the situation as well as the circumstance of the service user and family owing to the reason that it describes family as a unit of interacting personalities. Relating to the case study provided, it can be stated that the Anderson family possesses different personalities like Cyril, Robert, Crystal, Caroline, Eddy, the GP, and Margaret herself who had individual interactions with each other. This particular aspect eventually justifies the application of symbolic interactionist tool as a sociological perspective in this specific case study. The other rationale for the appliance of this tool in understanding as well as explaining the situation described in the case study is the unique contributions that makes by the aforementioned tool within the context of sociological perspective. In this regard, the contributions comprise the regard of families as social groups and the identities of the individuals are mainly developed through making social interactions (Bond & et. al., 1993; Cronk, 1973). Conflict Theory Perspective Conflict theory can also be regarded as the other form of sociological perspective which can be used as a tool to analyse, understand and explain the situation along with the circumstance of the service user and family. This theory signifies various facets of social life linked with power that certain group possesses. Moreover, the theory indicates the benefits that can be acquired from making any effectual social arrangement (Wood & Tully, 2006; Harris, 2002). In accordance with the case scenario, it can be viewed that there laid the existence of unequal allocation of power, resources as well as inequality amid the different personalities present in the case study. For instance, Caroline was afraid of lodging a grievance against her partner who tortures her owing to the reason of the emergence of various social issues. This act of Caroline can be referred as unequal distribution of power making the application of conflict theory as an effective tool for comprehending, analysing and explaining the circumstance of the service user and family. 2. Consideration and Discussion of Psychological Perspectives Psychological perspectives are often regarded as the approaches that are utilised with the intention of ascertaining as well as managing the different behavioural aspects of individuals (Sudbery, 2009; Buss, 2001; Howe, 1999). Two psychological perspectives that can be used to analyse and explain the situation of the service user and family have been described hereunder. Cognitive Perspective Cognitive perspective implies that individuals acquire behaviour from conscious feeling which is largely influenced by their individual outlooks, values as well as beliefs (Molden & Dweck, 2006; Miller, 2003). According to the case scenario, it can be affirmed within the circumstance of cognitive perspective that Margaret and Cyril had retained their physical as well as emotional problems within themselves with the objective of sustaining their professional life. On the other hand, Caroline has been viewed to be quite reluctant in informing and lodging complaints against her partner to her parents and police authority as Caroline believed that the behaviour of her partner will change on the birth of her second child. Psychodynamic Perspective Psychodynamic perspective signifies behaviours and characteristics of individuals that are recognised through subconscious feelings accumulated from the experience or observation in their early life. Moreover, this particular perspective represents that how an individual view his or her experiences along with interrelations that affects his or her behavioural attitudes, preferences and most significantly personalities (Beckett & Taylor, 2010; Leiper & Maltby, 2004). Relating to the provided case study, the facet of psychodynamic perspective can be used as a tool relating to psychological aspect owing to the reason that the interrelations or experiences of different individuals present in the case study affected their personalities by a greater level. This can be justified with reference to the fact that the interaction or the experience of Margaret relating to her previous systems had eventually made her to visit GP. Thus, with this concern, it can be affirmed that the aspect of psychodynamic perspective can be utilised as an effective tool for analysing as well as understanding the situation of the service user and family relating to the case study. 3. Steps to Be Taken as a Professional Social Worker By using the aforesaid aspects relating to the theory of social sciences, there are various concrete steps that might be adopted or followed as a professional social worker in order to assist the service user and family. In accordance with the case study provided, it can be affirmed that Margaret and her family have been greatly influenced due to uneven societal structure which also in turn affected their psychological development by a certain degree. However, when comparing with the mental, physical and social hazards faced by Caroline, she can be confirmed as priority in this case. For instance, Caroline has to witness the social hazard of being in a living relationship with Eddy wherein, it has been observed that a considerable detachment between Eddy and her family persists causing a certain degree of psychological pressure on Caroline. Allegedly, Caroline has also been observed by Margaret and also her mother to be physically abused by Eddy while Margaret can be observed to be in comparatively more peace although she suffers certain depressive experiences in her workplace. Caroline can be further deemed as a priority in comparison to Margaret, owing to the involvement of her 18 months infant child Esther. As a professional social worker, the initial step would be to offer proper medication and drug treatment to Margaret as she was again experiencing from her previous symptoms. However, when elaborating on Caroline’s psychological and social problems, she needs frequent counselling assistance and if required she should also be adviced to obtain legal protection, subjected to the evidences against Eddy to physically abuse Caroline. Contextually, when considering the social and psychological problems faced by Caroline, it is advisable that a professional social worker should ensure that the police authority adopts certain legal actions against Eddy if evidences support his conduct of physical abuse over Caroline. Specially mentioning, the other major step can be introducing counselling sessions which would largely develop the psychological stance of Caroline. In the similar context, counselling services may also be rendered to Eddy who can also be observed to experience certain psychological pressures showing detachment from the family members. However, at the onset to help Caroline, it is necessary to conduct a meeting with both Eddy and Caroline individually to obtain adequate understanding of the problems faced by the couple and therefore, plan the counselling program. In this context, an intervention style following the conflict and cognitive theory shall be beneficial. Correspondingly, for Margaret an intervention style following symbolic interactionist and psychodynamic theory shall be beneficial (Coppock & Dunn, 2009; Harris, 2003). 4. Awareness of Social Work Values and Standards As a professional social worker, it is quite essential to execute different operations in accordance with following certain valuable standards. These standards might comprise ‘Professional Capabilities Framework’ (PCF) and ‘standards of proficiency’. In this similar context, PCF denotes the capabilities that include professionalism, diversity and ethical values among others which needed by the social workers to effectively perform their different operational functions in an effectual manner. On the other hand, standards of proficiency depict threshold principles that are essential for social workers to follow while performing their respective operational functions especially for the first time. In order to determine the values as well as the standards relating to social work, it is to be affirmed from a broader perspective that the social worker should take necessary as well as appropriate actions in relation to risk, capacity as well as need. Moreover, the social worker is to be conscious about the impact of culture and equality in a society. The social worker should adopt appropriate practices and principles in order to respond suitably to various groups as well as individuals successfully. In terms of determining social work values as well as standards, it is to be affirmed that it is quite indispensable to possess effective communication skills, so that requisite information are acquired and disseminated to improve the standards of every societal member or group by a greater level (Hcpc, 2012; Crown, 2010). The aforementioned standards as well as values relating to social work especially concerning PCF and ‘standards of proficiency’ can be applied to various practice settings like anti-racist, discriminatory or anti-oppressive circumstances by a greater level. References Beckett, C. & Taylor, H., 2010. Human Growth and Development. SAGE. Bond, J. & et. al., 1993. Ageing in Society: An Introduction to Social Gerontology. SAGE. Buss,D. M., 2001. Human Nature and Culture: An Evolutionary Psychological Perspective. Journal of Personality, Vol. 69, No. 6, pp. 956-978. Coppock, V. & Dunn, B., 2009. Understanding Social Work Practice in Mental Health. SAGE. Cronk, G., 1973. Symbolic Interactionism: A "Left-Meadian" Interpretation. Social Theory and Practice, Vol. 2, No. 3, pp. 313-333. Crown, 2010. Building a Safe and Confident Future: One Year On. Government. [Online] Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/180792/DFE-00602-2010-2.pdf [Accessed June 13, 2013]. Harris, S. R., 2002. Critiquing and Expanding the Sociology of Inequality: Comparing Functionalist, Conflict, and Interactionist Perspectives. Documents, pp. 2-21. Harris, J., 2003. The Social Work Business. Routledge. Hcpc, 2012. Standards of Proficiency. Documents. [Online] Available at: http://www.hpc-uk.org/assets/documents/10003B08Standardsofproficiency-SocialworkersinEngland.pdf [Accessed June 13, 2013]. Howe, D., 1999. Attachment Theory, Child Maltreatment, and Family Support: A Practice and Assessment Model. Routledge. Leiper, R. & Maltby, M., 2004. The Psychodynamic Approach to Therapeutic Change. SAGE. Miller, G. A., 2003. The Cognitive Revolution: A Historical Perspective. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, Vol. 7, No. 3, pp. 141-144. Molden, D. C. & Dweck, C. S., 2006. Finding “Meaning” in Psychology. American Psychologist, Vol. 61, No. 3, pp. 192-203. Mooney, L. A. & et. al., 2012. Understanding Social Problems, 8th ed. Cengage Learning. Rosenberg, M., 1983. An Introduction to Sociology. Routledge. Sudbery, J., 2009. Human Growth and Development: An Introduction for Social Workers. Routledge. Wood, G. G. & Tully, C. T., 2006. The Structural Approach to Direct Practice in Social Work: A Social Constructionist Perspective. Columbia University Press. Appendix Action Plan Applied Social Sciences Assignment: Action Plan Appendix Priority (High) (Moderate) (Low) What Action/Provision 1 High Proper mental medication and drug treatment to be offered to Margaret 2 Moderate Deliverance free medical aid and check-up facilities to workers 3 High Legal and police protection should be provided in order to manage social factors for better development of society 4 High Counselling services should be offered to young generation for better career opportunities an growth 5 High Advice government to formulate regulations or principles for better social development and equality prevails in the society Read More