Social, Legal and Ethical Issues in the Film Lantana - Case Study Example

Topic: Social, Legal and Ethical issues in psychology Student Name: Institution Name: Tutor’s name: Date of Submission: TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction to the case study 2 2.Social, legal and ethical and/or professional issues raised by the case study and analysis of the social context are identified 4 3.Appropriate intervention plan is outlined based on codes of ethics, professional standards and legislation (counselling) 6 4. Analysis of professional challenges that are likely to be faced while working with these issues 6 5. Analysis of personal challenges you would face in working with this issue is provided 7 6. References 8 1. Introduction to the case study The case study involves a study of events that take place in the film ‘Lantana’. The main events that take place in the film include complex relationships that take place between participants in the film. The main event in the play is the film is the disappearance of a woman whose body is displayed at the beginning of the play but whose identity is not established until later. The name of the film is derived from Lantana plant that is common in Australia. The first scene of the film shows the sinister nature of the Australian landscape followed by a hum of crickets that fill the air as the camera moves over a lantana bush. Other areas that are revealed are flies that hover around the exposed body of a female corpse caught in the undergrowth and the audience are left to speculate about the cause of death. Other events that take place in the film include an encounter between Leon, a police officer who meets Jane and they have sex in a motel room. They then part ways and Leon goes for dancing classes with his wife, Sonja but he does not concentrate on the classes. The film also involves a therapist, Valery who has published a book about the murder of her daughter in the last 18 months. Valery also has marital issues with her husband and refers to their marriage as being held together by grief. Jane also meets Leon at the police station and they have sex again. This upsets Leon’s next door neighbor, Nik who is not pleased with the incident because he is a friend of Jane’s husband, Pete. Valery arranges for a meeting with Leon for e therapy session but returns home late. She tries to make calls to John but he does not answer the phone calls. She never makes it to her house. In another scene; Leon arrives home late but finds Sonja still awake. He asks her about her therapy meetings with Valery and they talk about their relationship issues and they reconcile over the affair that has just ended. This makes Sonja very upset and has a feeling of having been betrayed. Leon decides to investigate the cause of disappearance of Valery by interrogating her husband, John. Police escort Nik to the police station while his children are left with Jane. Paula is called to come in from her work and she calls Jane to thank her for taking care of their children. The police engage Nik in an interrogation process but he declines to answer the questions regarding Valery, insisting that he wants to see Paula. After seeing her, he calms down to talk to Leon and his colleague. It is discovered that Valery had a car trouble when Nik agreed to give her a lift to her house but felt nervous when he took a back road leaving his truck. Valery tried to run leaving her shoe. When Paula goes to Jane’s house, she tells her that Nik is not associated with the disappearance of Valery but does not give a right reason for the argument. Jane request that she spends more time with the kids but Paula does not agree. Leon, Nik and John go to the site where Valery had jumped out of the truck. They find her corpse where she had jumped from a ravine. The rest of the therapy is displayed where his Leon’s wife had promised that she still loved him and he bursts into tears. When Leon returns to his home, he finds his wife outside while Jane is inside dancing alone, drinking and smoking. Pete walks away from her and Patrick is disappointed to see his lover spending time with his wife and kids. The only people that seem to have recovered from the whole affair are Nik and Paula. The final section of the movie involves Sonja and Leon dancing together seductively. Leon, who initially did not show the interest of dancing with his wife, now seems to be more pleased and dances well. She looks at Sonja’s eyes and dances as she always expected. As Sonja tries to return Leon’s initial gaze, the movie ends. 2.Social, legal and ethical and/or professional issues raised by the case study and analysis of the social context are identified There are many social, legal and ethical/professional issues that are raised in the film. Social issues include adultery among married couples in the film such as Leon who is married to Sonja but does not honor his marriage and sleeps with Jane who is also married to another man, Pete. This is observed when Leon and Jane meet at the police station and have sex while Leon is at work. Jane also does not honor her marriage to Pete and meet s with Leon on several occasions such as their meeting at the police station where they have sex. The other social issue is the issue of love within marriage. It is observed that most people in the film do not have happy marriages and they are involved in a number of disagreements with their spouses there is no school, curriculum that teaches individuals how to cultivate disciplines and delights of love that create meanings to their lives. The film shows that when it comes to love, human beings are emotional and illiterate. Characters in the film are involved in floundering relationships. For instance, psychiatrist Valery Somers is married to John but they are not happy in their marriage since the death of their eleven year old daughter. Patrick is her gay patient and she suspects that he is in a relationship with him. The other character who is involved in a love issue is Sonja, the wife of Leon, a homicide detective. Despite having two children, she still feels that she needs a passionate marriage and usually shows emotional dissatisfaction. She suspects that her husband might be having an affair with another woman, which is correct. Professional issues observed in the play include the act where Leon meets Jane while he is at work and sleeps with her. This is a breach of his professional requirements as a police officer where he is required to remain loyal to the regulations of the police station. An ethical issue that is observed in the film is lack of concern for the person carried in the truck when Nik gave Valery a lift in the truck he was driving. In spite of suspecting that Valery had jumped out of the truck when he took a backside road, he does not care to investigate what had happened and drives to his house. Valery had felt nervous and had jumped out of the truck and fallen out of a ravine. Another unethical issue that is observed in the film is the nature of relationship that Nik has to other men. For instance, when he visits Valery for a therapy, she suspects that he might be having a relationship with her husband, John. Despite being a man, he has relationship with other men and does not see any woman. This is contrary to ethical requirement that a man should only have a relationship with woman. 3.Appropriate intervention plan is outlined based on codes of ethics, professional standards and legislation (counselling) Intervention plan for these patients will involve provision of counselling sessions to these patients. The type of counselling process will be based on the nature of problem experienced by these people. For instance, Leon will be asked to avoid seeing Jane because he has a wife while Jane has a husband. He will be informed that a married man is not expected to have a relationship with another woman apart from his wife. In addition, he will be asked to avoid meeting Jane at the police station because it is a working environment. He will be informed that he faces the threat of being punished for having sex with Jane at the police station and he might lose his job. The other person in the film that will be counselled is Sonja. She should be asked to ensure that Leon does not see another woman. She should be asked to observe him and inform his whenever he makes the mistake of seeing Jane. This will be followed by counselling Jane. In this counselling session, she should be asked to remain faithful to her husband, Pete. The other counselling session should be done to Nik. This involves advising him to stop having a relationship with other men. This is because, it is unethical for a man to have a relationship with other men and doing so is unethical. He will be asked to try and avoid having a relationship with Pete who he has been observed to have an affair with him. He will be asked to look for a woman to have a relationship with if he needs to be in a relationship. 4. Analysis of professional challenges that are likely to be faced while working with these issues There are many professional challenges that are likely to be experienced while dealing with issues illustrated in the film. These challenges are likely to result into the difficulty in achieving the overall objectives of arriving at a solution to the problems being encountered in these issues. In dealing with the extra marital relationship between Leon and Jane, the professional advisor for the parties will be challenged to ensure the secrets of relationship between Leon and Jane does not spill over to be known by Sonja who is the legitimate wife of Leon. The other professional challenge that will be faced is that the clients of the counselling session may develop a negative attitude towards the counsellor and would be unwilling to cooperate in the counselling process and it will be difficult to provide them with the right advice on how to manage their marital challenges. The other professional challenge that will be faced by the counsellor in the counselling process is that during counselling regarding the right ethical practice at the police station, the counsellor might be denied the opportunity to enter into the police station since he/she might not be a professional in the police department. This will prevent efficient accomplishment of the counselling process despite the effort to ensure that Leon is prevented from seeing Jane. The other professional challenge that will be encountered is that during investigation of the cause of disappearance and death of Valery, the counsellor might not be in a position to determine the reason that led to the death of Valery. Thus it will not be easy to determine the reason for her death and it will be difficult to provide a proper recommendation on the right ethical practice in driving a truck. 5. Analysis of personal challenges you would face in working with this issue is provided A part from professional challenges that may be experienced in development of solutions to the issues that have been discussed, there are a number of personal challenges that may make the objectives of the research less likely to be achieved. During the process of counselling patients involved in the issues, the counsellor may infringe into their privacy and he may be accused of trying to involve himself in issues that do not relate to his concerns. For instance, when Leon is being counselled, he may consider the counsellor as a person who wants to deprive him of his pleasure of getting sexual satisfaction and he may also be considered to be jealous of him. The other personal challenges that will be experienced are that the counsellor will have to visit the patients individually in their residential areas and will have to access their privacy. He may be accused of trying to expose the secrets of his clients. In addition, the researcher will have to share the secrets that exist between the spouses involved in the love issues with their partners. This will result into disagreements and he may be regarded as an individual who wants to destroy the marriages of his clients. These challenges may make the counsellor less willing to provide the counselling work to the full capacity and it will not be easy to resolve issues faced by characters in the film. 6. References Brown, S. D., & Lent, R. W. (2008). Handbook of counseling psychology. Hoboken, N.J: John Wiley. Carducci, B. J. (2006). The psychology of personality. Oxford: Blackwell. Jacob, S., Decker, D. M., & Hartshorne, T. S. (2011). Ethics and law for school psychologists. Hoboken, N.J: J. Wiley & Sons. Koocher, G. P., & Keith-Spiegel, P. (2008). Ethics in psychology and the mental health professions: Standards and cases. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Maher, J. F. (1989). Replacement of renal function by dialysis: A textbook of dialysis. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers. Toplis, J., Dulewicz, V., Fletcher, C., & Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. CIPD. (2005). Psychological Testing: A manager's guide. London: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Developmentc2005. Truscott, D., & Crook, K. H. (2004). Ethics for the practice of psychology in Canada. Edmonton [Alta.: University of Alberta Press Read More

Pete walks away from her and Patrick is disappointed to see his lover spending time with his wife and kids. The only people that seem to have recovered from the whole affair are Nik and Paula. The final section of the movie involves Sonja and Leon dancing together seductively. Leon, who initially did not show the interest of dancing with his wife, now seems to be more pleased and dances well. She looks at Sonja’s eyes and dances as she always expected. As Sonja tries to return Leon’s initial gaze, the movie ends. 2.Social, legal and ethical and/or professional issues raised by the case study and analysis of the social context are identified There are many social, legal and ethical/professional issues that are raised in the film.

Social issues include adultery among married couples in the film such as Leon who is married to Sonja but does not honor his marriage and sleeps with Jane who is also married to another man, Pete. This is observed when Leon and Jane meet at the police station and have sex while Leon is at work. Jane also does not honor her marriage to Pete and meet s with Leon on several occasions such as their meeting at the police station where they have sex. The other social issue is the issue of love within marriage.

It is observed that most people in the film do not have happy marriages and they are involved in a number of disagreements with their spouses there is no school, curriculum that teaches individuals how to cultivate disciplines and delights of love that create meanings to their lives. The film shows that when it comes to love, human beings are emotional and illiterate. Characters in the film are involved in floundering relationships. For instance, psychiatrist Valery Somers is married to John but they are not happy in their marriage since the death of their eleven year old daughter.

Patrick is her gay patient and she suspects that he is in a relationship with him. The other character who is involved in a love issue is Sonja, the wife of Leon, a homicide detective. Despite having two children, she still feels that she needs a passionate marriage and usually shows emotional dissatisfaction. She suspects that her husband might be having an affair with another woman, which is correct. Professional issues observed in the play include the act where Leon meets Jane while he is at work and sleeps with her.

This is a breach of his professional requirements as a police officer where he is required to remain loyal to the regulations of the police station. An ethical issue that is observed in the film is lack of concern for the person carried in the truck when Nik gave Valery a lift in the truck he was driving. In spite of suspecting that Valery had jumped out of the truck when he took a backside road, he does not care to investigate what had happened and drives to his house. Valery had felt nervous and had jumped out of the truck and fallen out of a ravine.

Another unethical issue that is observed in the film is the nature of relationship that Nik has to other men. For instance, when he visits Valery for a therapy, she suspects that he might be having a relationship with her husband, John. Despite being a man, he has relationship with other men and does not see any woman. This is contrary to ethical requirement that a man should only have a relationship with woman. 3.Appropriate intervention plan is outlined based on codes of ethics, professional standards and legislation (counselling) Intervention plan for these patients will involve provision of counselling sessions to these patients.

The type of counselling process will be based on the nature of problem experienced by these people. For instance, Leon will be asked to avoid seeing Jane because he has a wife while Jane has a husband. He will be informed that a married man is not expected to have a relationship with another woman apart from his wife. In addition, he will be asked to avoid meeting Jane at the police station because it is a working environment.

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