How Space and Place Determines Who We Are - Assignment Example

How Space and Place Determines Who We Are Introduction Internal working models concept is the beginning point of appreciating how an individual relates with self and then to close relations. In that regard, scientists have done a great job trying to build models used to evaluate how individual perceive self and regard actions of others. The very first love and care offered by parents or guardians are the main determinants of how an individual evaluate his character, performance and associate with others (Goodman M, Goodman D, & Redclift, 2003). The authors further say that individuals create spaces where they continuously evaluate activities and events, which form the basis for internal working models. To many people, architects and town planning engineers have been responsible to create real spaces. Such spaces are designed in a way that they create room that is habitable (O'Neill & McCall, 2004). An analysis of virtual spaces shows that they exhibit a similar description as physical rooms. A website is a space that holds information about a company, a book, a place while a chart room provides space for people exchange communications (O’Neil, 2005). Virtual spaces have the capacity to carry a large content of information and can be modified to project a different image depending on its intended function. Another kind of space is virtual reality, which swaps reality to a certain extent with substantial illusory arguments inside which we feel totally engrossed and present, and that is the human mind. We shall look at its internal working model next. How space and place determines who we are A social worker is a professional who seeks to make better quality of life of other people through research and community work by showing and guiding them on what is right based on his experience and qualification in that field. In many cases, social work is a calling and most workers provide their services during their free time unless when they are directly employed by organizations like NGOs whose primary goal is to provide social services. Participation in social work has many determining factors beginning from ones upbringing and then the current living environment. How a person saw social workers perform their duties will be the linking factor to their relationship. Pietromonaco and Barret (2000) say that understanding the internal working model shall facilitate appreciating how adults create relationships and relate to one another. They say that each person continuously constructs working models of how he sees the world and himself in those models, he uses these virtual memories to recognize events, forecast the future, and do his own planning. In other words, it is like an individual constructing a house and giving it a design about what is its intended purpose and goes own to fill it with those items to make it complete. When an individual builds a mental working model, the person chooses carefully characters to associate with, chooses roles they shall play, and assigns these roles to them. The individual shall identify these virtual characters with the roles assigned. At the same time, when constructing an individual working model, one builds himself as either acceptable or unacceptable in the presence of his attachment personalities (Pietromonaco & Barret, 2000). For example, paramedic came to a school to demonstrate to young kids their services at a swimming pool area. One young boy on seeing the team, he ran away crying prompting the teacher to run after him and enquire what could be the problem. The boy said that one morning he was playing with his grandfather then an ambulance came and took him. The next place he saw his grandfather was at the cemetery. He feared that the ambulance has come for him and the next thing to happen is that people will go to bury him next to his grandfather. This case demonstrates the kind of believe this boy holds with regard to the paramedics given the case he has in memory. According to him, the ambulance was responsible for the grandfather’s death since he was able to associate any ambulance with death hence by running away; he believed he could manage to avoid death. In the boys mind, an ambulance signifies death and the paramedics are the people who will facilitate his transfer from this world to the cemetery. Bowlby (1969) pointed out that the attachment theory has attracted the interest of researchers who have tried to understand the nature of human associations across a lifespan. Social habits arise from the kind of bonds existing among the community inhabitants. Some neighbourhoods have people who are closely attached to each other to an extent where each person is of responsible character and mature people freely correct young ones’ mistakes by telling them the right way of doing things. Communities where each person lives in isolation have no attachment bonds, nobody knows his neighbours and in case of emergency, the only help one expects is from the police and medical personnel. Bowlby (1979) goes on saying that that mental representatives of oneself and others , which arose from the child-parent relationship usually holds on, keeps on changing but not much and becomes the determinant of one’s thoughts, feelings and conduct in adult relations. Individuals are made over time, molding originates from the nature of first parental love then followed by the child-home living conditions and environment. Children who were given good care and upbringing while young are more likely to become more social and lively towards other people (Johnson, 2002). In contrast, a child who suffered under bad care between years 1-6, will be emotional and is more likely to become harmful in the form of a social misfit, a person who fights others, steals among other social injustices. As the child grows, at the ages of 1-6 years, he learns by mostly imitating what goes on within its surroundings. If the child sees its parents cleaning the house, he will occasionally help by bringing one item to the parents and with time the child will participate fully in the exercise. On the same note, a child born in a family of lazy people who likes sitting around will imitate that behavior and the child will end up being eqully lazy. A number of studies have shown a close relationship between child-parent relationship and the extent of a couple’s romantic attachment (Jorgensen & Phillips, 2008). These studies have tried to link internal working model and hypothesized mechanism through which affectionate behaviors pass through all those people one associates with in a life time. A person, who grew up in an environment that has loving people, will grow up being social, approachable and has the time and reason to sit and listen to other people’s views. This contrast with a person who grew up is a dictatorial environment, who believes that, to govern others effectively, you must be tough on them with your word being final. The spouse of either case shall be a beneficially of one’s rearing. The purpose of this paper is to examine how our thinking behaviors produce a world that determines who we are with reference to internal working models. One important element of the attachment theory is that individuals originate mental representatives that house expectations about self, those one regards, and how the two relate to one another (Bowlby, 1973). The kind of expectations we have in life usually unfolds not long after. How we rate and perceive our success shall follow us since we shall do our activities with success goals in mind. Persons who go into educating others about importance of a clean working environment shall start doing so by cleaning their own workstations or neighborhoods then move on to clean for others. When their neighbours see the kind of environment created, they will improve on it by not littering and also participating in cleanup exercises. He goes on saying that working models therefore occupy some space where they store information about attachment figures and the self in a well-organized manner such that the self will keep on making reference and choosing the best course of behavior depending on the current relationship. This content has knowledge about details such as driving what vehicle, owns what, of interpersonal encounters in addition to the effects like fear, hatred, associated with such experiences. Likewise, working models comprise processes that determine the kind of information an individual shall address how the individual perceives events in his wild space and what the individual sends to memory (Bowlby, 1979). It is worth noting that these processes take place on their own unconsciously both when storing important information, means of storing the information, and the means of retrieving it. Working models work under the premise of assimilation, guiding one’s attention, and behavior, hence they are known to remain relatively stable over a long period, though on rear occasions, they are known to change. Bowlby (1973) says that individuals build up and maintain working models of themselves and those they relate to closely. A number of research studies have added weight to this theory by showing how people become what they think. They say that assuming we do not have internal working models, all of us will exhibit same achievements, own equal wealth and relate to each other in a similar way. This originates from mothers who shall give their children same maternal care giving rise to averagely same thinking human beings. Internal working models come in to define why and how each comes out as a very different person (Tidwell, Reis & Shaver, 2006). A superior internal working model can give an individual the ability to believe more in his abilities and this person will become successful in a certain field for instance playing football. Therefore, working models are known to arise as a person associates with others whom they share some close bonds. Specifically, they originate from the believe one holds on how appreciated and acceptable that a person is in the eyes of those the person relates to when young as gauged from how those relations respond to the individual. This shows that, a child who grows in an environment where the people he interacts with are readily available to assist him, advise him about life, respond to his requests and are reliable will grow up with a representation of the self as acceptable and worthwhile. Those who have unresponsive relations, people who are not caring and are unreliable, will grow up seeing themselves as unworthy. Hence, a working model will store information about various relations which will guide self to approach someone in case of a certain difficulty since the self expects those relations to respond back in a reliable manner. Different individuals show varying attachment styles, which reflect the extent of their interpersonal experiences. For instance, if a child is separated from its parent for an extended period and then is reunited back, the response the child gives its mother depends on the environment it was reared in (Tomaka, & Blascovich, 1994). If the child received love and affection, it may not willingly want to be reunited and vice versa. However, that child who runs back to its mother and allows the mother to comfort him has working models reflecting security. On the other hand, those who refuse to reunite with their mothers after separation have a working model showing an avoidant form of insecurity since the baby prefers other people he was relating with. We have cases where a baby cries and pushes its mother away after separation; they are expressing working models that demonstrate an anxious form of insecurity (Finzi, 2001). Children who express this kind of behavior will grow up demonstrating the same given similar living conditions. A closer analysis shall show that a secure adult is someone who is comfortable with the person he is relating with and incase of rejections, they do not get worried since they believe in their abilities. On the other hand, anxious-ambivalent ones were so concerned with rejection hence they seek very close relationships. Avoidant adults found it difficult to trust their relations and opt to take what comes along the way, as it is (Sroufe & Waters, 1997). Bartholomew and Horowitz (2001) says that researchers study adult attachments by using an accurate method that identifies styles as determined by models of self and others. This scheme gives four attachment modes that arise by combining positive or negative modes of an individual with positive or negative modes of close relations. The results have shown similar characteristics in that individuals who express positive models of self and others belong to the secure prototype and they express satisfaction with closeness and intimacy (Annie, 2004). Those who hold negative models of self and other belong to the fearful avoidant prototype and they express that they fear closeness with other people. They prefer being alone and they do not have a habit of consulting others. Another group holds a negative model of self but a positive of their relations belong to the preoccupied prototype. This is a class of individuals who long for very close relations since they have a phobia and highly detest being abandoned. There is another class that holds itself positively and others negatively; such people belong to the dismissing-avoidant category. Such people say that they do not trust relationships and claim that they are independent working single. All individuals have to belong to one of the prototypes above either to a larger or lesser degree and that identifies how they are likely to relate with their relations, who include their spouses. In general, evidence from a number of studies has shown that different attachment styles arise from the kind of esteem one holds about self. Secure individuals demonstrate higher self-esteem than their counterparts in anxious-ambivalent category do (Simpson & Rholes, 1994). In addition, avoidant individuals in some cases demonstrate lower self-esteem than do secure individuals while in some cases they demonstrate same levels of self-esteem. Empirical evidence overly supports the findings that secure people regard others’ contributions positively. Overly, from these findings, we see that people who display different attachment styles differ in theoretically predicted ways in the way they view themselves. Evidence on how people view other with relation to themselves however is dependent on circumstances and the nature of encounters they are. To sum up about attachment differences in working models of an individual and his close relations, we shall look at three main observations (Shaver & Brennan, 2002). First, many researchers have concentrated studies by analyzing global studies about global positive or negative feelings on self hence limiting content about self-models. Second, analyzing working models of others factored in general beliefs about humanity and how we perceive our specific partners provides evidence that working modes of others varies with attachment styles. Third, majority of these reports rely on information as reported by self. As a result, when giving information about others, some people may not give an accurate report in their attempt to show a positive image on self as compared to their close relations. Social work as a function takes many different forms and participants usually have many diverse interests or perceptions they want to take care of. Social work is more pronounced in western countries than in Africa, South America, and Asia. This is because of the personal values individuals hold with respect to social work (Shulman, 1991). In addition, social work has a number of values that include individual ethics, perceptions, knowledge, and values. For effective execution, how one perceives social work affects the general outcome of the activity. In that regard, social workers should comprise both professionals, employed people, community members and people from diverse believes and backgrounds (Shardlow & Payne, 1998). Those championing the exercise should form an inclusive group that cuts across all fields and professions to remove the stigma associated with social work. Stress and motivation are key determinants on quality of social work. There is need for enough social works to spread pressure across-board, as social workers are likely to serve a large clientele given the free or cheap services they offer. Higher wages and better working conditions will be an added benefit to attract more participants in this field. Stressful working conditions will prompt social workers to establish private practice and split working hours with private practice taking more. The work of social workers and largely its application and practice is determined by the social welfare systems in the respective countries where the services are being offered. As an example, Scandinavian countries issue each citizen with social insurance while in United Kingdom; this insurance belongs to people from a lower social class with less income. In that regard, social workers in Scandinavian countries have the mandate to evaluate and develop services in line with changing social needs of citizens. This makes the staff proud since they own the entire decision-making, they need to prove their actions and justify results depending on how satisfied the recipients of the services are. The United Kingdom case leaves many people outside the bracket of receiving the much-needed social services, but offers good service to the few who qualify. The staffs are very interactive with the service recipients and always give feedback to the higher authority for modifications on the nature and extent of services offered in future. Much funding for social work in western nations is from the governments themselves; the same governments are in charge of policy making hence the chance of citizens getting the much needed quality services are higher. Unlike in its early years of operation, current social work is customized to follow some rules and guidelines of the supporting body. Social workers do not have the discretion to go beyond limits to offer much needed help as should be the case since they must abide by contractual terms. As a result, satisfying organizational objectives takes priority over social work. Such organizations need to give social workers a list of duties to fulfill but let them have the freedom to choose how they shall go about conducting this exercise (Shardlow & Payne, 1998). There are not so few cases where, during the year, the funding body limits the type of social activities to be offered but towards the end of the company financial year, the funding body puts pressure on the company receiving funds to find activities to fund as long as money is fully spent. Such activities demonstrate the way funding bodies prioritize efficiency more than service to be received by clients. Training of social workers has been a challenge due to the casual way people view social work. In many countries, there is a feeling that social work is for those people who have less qualifications hence leaving this noble duty to the less educated people who have less motivation and self-drive. In the end, those people receiving services end up getting poor services to the interest of funding companies. Globalization is another challenge in social work delivery. This is because some countries may compete to promote social work when in the real sense, that is an element of public relations and in return, the social services offered are of poor standards. Competition, efficiency, and incompetence are the greatest challenges in social work. There is a highly held belief among many countries that social work is nonprofit making and that staff there misuse or divert resources leading to reduced funding and advocate for privatizing organizations offering such services as a result. As such, it is evident that the social policy of the country does not depend on government policies but rather it relies mostly on how global bodies like IMF, World Bank perceive what entails social work. Sadly, enough, such bodies do not have a realistic view of what entails social work in developing countries. They end up proposing policies that do not have a long-term solution; instead, such policies make the recipient country reliant on services offered for a lifetime (Whitaker, Weismiller & Clark, 2006). Howe (1987) says that different cultures have their own social units and for one to give them a good social service, that entity should fully understand the point of view of end users. So social work should be structured first by learning what happens on the ground and then move on to plan with the locals on the best standards to adhere to when setting up the kind of services to offer. Failure to incorporate locals effectively, cultural practices may become a hindrance in ensuring that locals get to benefit fully from the social services offered. A good example is trying to promote gender equality in many African societies. Donor bodies have been funding and shall continue funding activities aimed at promoting gender equality in the society. Such activities, however, face resistance both from the government level where men always want to dominate all decision making to the homestead level where men want to feel the boss who gives directives (Smith & Whitaker & Weismiller, 2006). People who receive social services in countries that depend on AID usually receive poor services because of the nature of relationship between the donor and the recipient countries. Some donors channel social services funds through multiple channels (Gibelman & Schervish, 2003). This can be through churches, government departments, NGOs. It becomes a challenge for the government to harmonize the nature and quality of the services offered given that it does not have a say in policy formulation and change, and it does not play any role in funding such activities. Technological advancement and the need to cut down on costs is another challenge to offering quality services to end users. Some entities are reported to offering social services over the phone in that the social worker calls the end user, interrogates that person online, and makes recommendations (Gibelman, 2005). This new method of offering social help makes some users feel not valued, as the social worker may be likely to be brief and less thorough over the phone unlike physical encounters. Another disadvantage of this method of offering social help is that those who are inaccessible through telephones will miss getting the much needed social help. 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