Social Work Perspectives as Applied to the Movie John Q - Essay Example

Social Work Perspectives as applied to the movie "John Q" Introduction The movie chronicles on the significances of the American nation having compulsory medical covers that protects all citizens. This is evident when the hospital is unable to conduct a transparent to John Quincy’s son despite him possessing an insurance cover. In this regard, it is apparent that the sufferings people face due to the harsh economic situations force them to apply for policies that may help in reducing costs. However, this does not happen when because some institutions do not support the government amendments and operate using their own organizational policies. Although the movie indicates the realities concerning medical covers across the US, the social work perspective elements are applied to reveal the theme. The Humanistic Perspective The social work perspectives explain different situations that happen to influence human behaviors. This is through the reactions that people show when something happens or when trying to come up with solutions. The systems, humanistic and conflict perspectives are among the various components of the social work perspectives. The elements of these theories are present in the movie in different ways through the actions of the characters. This focuses on the positive reflection of being a human being with the characters possessed by an individual. For instance, it is always natural that human beings should be compassionate when dealing with health matters affecting children. This theory is central to the film when John Quincy decides to be violent in order to compel the hospital’s administration to procedure a heart transparent to this child. This is because of the hospital denying the procedure, citing the absence of enough funds offered in the medical insurance cover. It is only natural that parents or humans will also react in order to force their way into getting assistance in difficult situations. The rebellious nature possessed by John Quincy defines his humanistic approach to the happenings at the hospital (Duvall, 2002). This implies that a persons current situation influences his or her character and determines the reactions. Similarly, the humanistic perspective indicates that humans have the urgency of self-help and are always responsible for their personal happiness or comfort (Hutchinson, 2014). John could not allow his son to suffer because of the hospital’s refusal to procure that transplant operation. As a result, he opted for violence by holding the staff and other people hostage until the transplant is over. This shows that he was responsible for the actions taken by the hospital to grant his family the relief of the son recovering from the medical condition. The humanistic perspective also indicates that people seek value and innovation in everything they perform. The perspective is central to the film when John Q uses a gun without bullets to scare the hospital administrator and the staffs (Hutchinson, 2014). The creativity of using an unloaded gun was a choice taken to inspire positive results to the ailing son and the determined father. As a result, the humanistic perspective was prevalent in the film as portrayed by the protagonist in his quest to have his ailing son procure a heart transplant. The Systems Perspective The systems perspective also defines human habits, but in terms of the entire systems. This assumes that the notion of an effective system depends on personal requirements, motivations and goals of the people present in that system (Hutchinson, 2014). This implies that the theory brings together families, spouses and organization members get involved directly in finding solutions that affect the system. This perspective is central to the film by the medical insurance covers that determine the provision of and access to health services. For instance, the system dictates that all people need to acquire medical insurance in order to access basic health care. However, when the system does not favor any individuals, then the entire members need to come up with solutions. This happened when John Q. had to sell his assets to service the treatment of his, but the hospital still rejected the plea because of insufficient funds (Duvall, 2002). As a result, he decided to fight for his right and ignore the hospital’s oppressive policies. The kidnap and hostage conducted by John was a rebellion against the system that is discriminative against the low-income earners. The systems perspective of issuing medical covers to favor a section of the community defined John’s character (Hutchinson, 2014). This forced the entire country to rescue the hostages by allowing the operation to proceed in order to free all the hostages. The correction of the oppressive nature of the medical covers is evident when the court acquits John of some charges pertaining to criminal matters. The concept of the systems perspectives is to avoid principles applicable to different sections of the systems by focusing on a common level (Hutchinson, 2014). Individual’s behaviors do not determine the relationship between the various types of systems as revealed in the film. For instance, the other patients present at the hospital at the time of the hostage were not there because they could also not afford the medical expenses. This implies that John’s behaviors towards the happenings at the hospital were independent and did not relate to the relationship with other patients. The members of the hospital had to comply with John’s requirement in order to save the victims (Duvall, 2002). People will always question the benefits of their systems if they feel their interests are not safeguarded. Systems perspective also applies to different environments. It is separated from the actions performed by members of that area or field (Hutchinson, 2014). Despite the situations that contributed to the actions taken by John, other hospitals were still denying their patients access to medication if the cover was not servicing the entire bill. It is apparent that the relationships between systems in this context are independent of the actions of one member, John Q (Duvall, 2002). He exposes the limitations of the medical cover by exploring the government provisions on coverage and a possible payment of amenities by the hospital. The father takes on the system after realizing none of the above (medical cover and possible payment) is available to guarantee an operation (Hutchinson, 2014). His action was inspired to force the provision of the transplant regardless of the payment options provided by the system. The Conflict Perspective The central assumption of the conflict perspective is that struggles and competition for various resources to shape the social life of groups and individuals. This implies that people always strive to achieve their requirements by competing for them or due to their challenges and experiences. This leads to the distribution of power and wealth in the societal systems (Hutchinson, 2014). For instance, capitalism denotes the underlying consequences of conflict perspectives. This is because it influences the behaviors and happenings in the society by determining the distribution of vital resources. In the movie, the medical cover is meant to favor those who earn decent incomes above the average. The affects the individuals who cannot afford the high charges and they have to supplement their savings in order to receive the appropriate medication. Struggles shape John’s behaviors to attack the hospital’s administrator since he has no option of influencing a transplant on his son. The other scenario of the conflict perspective in the movie is the state of labor affairs in the country (Duvall, 2002). This arises because some workers can only take covers that do not incorporate transplants. The resources that a person holds, which enables him to access quality services, shape the societal systems under the conflict perspective. However, the conflict perspective theory fails to identify the variations in the society and the benefits of stratification. The poverty levels that cause conflicts in workplaces or neighborhoods are evident throughout the movie when John Q. tries to find avenues of securing money for his son’s operation (Duvall, 2002). Only a few people who are capable of making it to the transplant list because they own the resources of getting money. This situation is unfavorable to John, who has to fight for a chance of booking for the son’s transplant through weird ways. In this regard, the conflict theory leads to societal evils if the authority cannot balance resource allocation and utilization (Hutchinson, 2014). The movie clearly illustrates the elements of conflict perspectives through John’s actions and the discriminative nature of the medical cover. Conclusion The “John Q” movie exhibits the different elements of social work perspectives through the actions of the protagonist. For instance, John Quincy has a medical cover, but the hospital has denied his son a chance to have a heart transplant. He triggers a reactionary move from Quincy in a bid to influence a transplant through various means, such as selling his assets and holding people hostage. The Humanistic perspective is central to the film through the violent nature of John after realizing that the son is in danger. This indicates that humans have the urgency of self-help and are always responsible for their personal happiness or comfort. Similarly, the systems perspective is also central by dictating that one has to have a medical cover to access health services. As a result, the systems perspective of issuing medical covers to favor a section of the community defined John’s character. The other evident perspective is the Conflict theory that emerges through the struggles that shape John’s characters to kidnap the hospital’s administrator. The concept of using the medical cover to treat limited illnesses is discriminative and favors only a few individuals. References Duvall, R. (2002). John Q (Infinifilm ed.). Montreal, Quebec: Alliance Atlantis. Evolution Entertainment. Hutchinson, E. (2014). Dimensions of Human Behavior: The Changing Life Course. SAGE Publishers. 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