Social Work Theories and Caregiving for Human-MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about theSocial Work Theories and Caregivingfor Human Behavior. Answer: Introduction Social work theories are general explanations that describes human behavior and how they interact with one another in different situations. These theories are supported by several evidences provided resulting from different scientific research (Healy, 2014). Similarly, the proof obtained from the various social work theories is collected in the same manner. Social work entails practicing the act of acre to other people who may be in need or from the perception of the social work they deserve to be helped. According to Taylor (2015) care availed by the social workers is an act that entails taking another person responsibility. In the context of social work, individual should be able to ensure that all the activities of the people they are anticipating to care of are executed for the benefits of those who are need (Bogo, Vayda, 2013). They are responsible for the ensuring that those people under their care are comfortable at all the time. In the processing of advancing their generosity to the less fortunate in the society caregivers seem to apply social work theories. The social work theories help them in ensuring that they understand the people under their care. The majority of these theories are used as references to make the caregivers understand about the people who are under their care. Theories mainly used are systems theory, psychodynamic theory, social learning theory and the conflict theory. This paper strived discuss how social worker apply the above mentioned theories in the execution of their philanthropic activities. System Theory The system theory apply the concepts that constitute and emphasize the reciprocal relationship between the two individuals, the caregiver and the person under their care (Rapoport, 2013). This theory largely uses the factors that directly link the individual to their behaviors and also the way they relate to the environment around them. For example, it considers attributes, expectations, rewards and individual needs of all the people in the system. This theory connotes that organization members couples, families are directly linked in addressing the problem even if it is a personal issue (Connolly, Harms, 2015). Despite the fact that their relationship will have to matter a lot, the way how they react and operate on the same has a great impact on their relationship (Beckett, Horner, 2015). Jimmy being a 16year old has the task of taking care of his mother who is unable carry out her primary chores without any help. Despite Jimmy being such young he has no other alternative other than to pull up his socks and provide the necessary care to his mother. This is because he is the only person who is left to take care of his mother Mary (45 years old). With time Jimmy has been able to take care of his mother without an issue. However, as time progresses he becomes tired. He ends up making a decision to give his mother to another caregiver so that he can live a life.' This was to the point that he was no longer ready to continue taking care as he felt like he is tired of his mother. Jimmy decision can be embraced from the fact he still young and he lacks the maximum potential to provide his mother with the quality care. The reaction of Jimmy is normal when it comes to such points where a caregiver feels like they are tired and maybe fed up. According to Hanson (2013) a care giver is permitted to relinquish his due care responsibility if he feel that he is unable to continued offering support to the needy. I was able to talk to Jimmy about the incident where he was helping his mother to bed when she fell. The incident has been in the position to torture him as he feels like he is losing his patience and also being exploited. He was able to tell me about his relationship with his mother. He can show that the relationship with his mother has been good but as time moved on the demands of his mother started to increase and this meant that he would have to spend more time with her. This made him be in the position to start feeling bored as the environment around him was now becoming unconducive. He was not able to adapt positively to the environment around him even though he joined a young caregiver assoc iation. I was able to know the biggest issue with him was the fact that his mother was so dependent in the sense that he didnt have time for himself. The use of the theory was able to help him be in the position to start understanding his environment and also be able to improve his relationship with his mother (Feintuch, Saeks, 2012). Strengths and Limitations of System Theory The theory should be able to help an individuals to understand the kind of environment they are operating in. This will facilitate them to understand their clients or the people under their care. This helps to understand those who need their help whenever there are issues with them. On the other hand, the theory has limitations that makes it inapplicable. First, system theory is time-consuming. This is in the sense that, takes an individual a longer period so that they get used to and also learn and adapt to the surrounding environment. Psychodynamic Theory It is a theory that deals with the psychology of an individual. It explains the personality of a person regarding conscious desires and beliefs (Higdon, 2013). It is also concerned with the fact that the internal belief and being of an individual can motivate a person in performing or doing an activity (Colarusso, Nemiroff, 2013). It is also seems to explain how childhood experiences affect and shape the personality of the children when they grow up (Higdon, 2013). According to Jimmys description and behaviors, it is noted that he is in the position to face and experience psychodynamic attributes. The fact that he is the one that is responsible for taking care of his mother he is a young boy who is growing. This means that he has also to plan and ensure that he succeed personally. The critical condition forces Jimmy to arrive that he is going to introduce his mother to another caregiver so that he can live a life.' The difficult childhood experiences that Jimmy has gone through are likely to shape his future in a different way in that he will develop a negative or positive attitude in taking care of people. This will be determined by the way he has been influenced by the experience of as a caregiver. However, provide that the experiences he endures he will live with them in his lifetime, it is possible also to reverse the situation. This will mean that Jimmy can change his mind and consider taking care of the mother despite the hardship and the experiences he was facing. I was able to tell and educate him on the best way forward and advised him to be regularly visiting a psychotherapist so that he can be able to be shown the way forward. Strengths and Limitations of Psychodynamic Theory The theory has the ability to ensure that it gives individuals a way forward towards the way of life they wish to take (Mander, 2014). The theory can also be applied to note the changes and the bad attitude that a caregiver seems to develop. Additionally, the theory ensures that people are subjected to psychotherapy so as to reverse them to the normal behavior. Despite this theory having several strengths it is characterized by a major limitation. The psychodynamic theory imparts a negative aspect and attitude in the caregiver. This make a care giver abandon the act of caregiving for the rest of his or her life. Social Learning Theory This is the theory that suggests that interaction between people facilitates the learning of individual behavior. This is in the sense that the kind of behavior an individual will have to take will depend on the type of individuals they interact. The findings indicate that individuals are likely copy the negative characters from others than the positive ones. This is because the negative characters are always not complicated and will not require steps and guidelines in following them (Akers, Jensen, 2014). Jimmy shared the experiences he has faced and with the people he has been able interact and operate with. It was clearly noted that that he has not been in the position to interact with more people since the accident of his mother. His social status seems to make him shy to face people in public. This was evident in the first week when he joined young caregivers group. He was shy and anxious as he had an opportunity to meet new people and share with them. The instructors tried the ir best to ensure that Jimmy fits in the team. As prolonged, Jimmy learnt from other team members was comfortably interacting with other caregivers as they shared their stories. This was one way that Jimmy was able to develop his character also learn other positive characters from his friends. The socializing helps an individual to develop their character and also get to learn other characters from the people they interact with. This theory also seems to help Jimmy in developing an active mind for caregiving. Through social learning someone develops sense of caring and at the same time it makes an individual have a positive attitude to everybody (Akers, 2015). It also helps individual to interact with other people well. This interaction makes and prepares them for their future life in the social environment. Strengths and Limitations of Social Learning Theory Social learning offers training to individuals on how they are supposed to be interacting with their colleagues in the social environment. The theory also seems to develop the social skills of the caregivers in the social work activities in the sense that they can understand the bad and good characters. This means that they will be able to comfortably fit in any social environment. On the other hand, the theory seems to nurture individual to adapt a behavior that is not good. This is followed by the spread the negative behavior all over the large area (Turner, 2016). This makes the avoidance of such behaviors hard when they are practiced by large part of the society (Sandler, 2016). However, this spread of the behavior that is not acceptable can be aided by theory positive aspect to prevent from becoming a big problem. Conflict Theory This is a theory focuses on explaining the way how people seems to be in a competition in the society. The competition is always based on the fact that one will have to use the other to their advantage. The society has been seen to be a place that breeds for competition among the people in the society. Achieving a goal that has been set by an individual at times will always become hard for them to achieve it by themselves and so they will have to opt to use other people to their advantage. From Jimmys perspective, he sees that his mother is in a way using him for her benefit. This is in the sense that Jimmy is always ready and there to help out his mother (Bartos, Wehr, 2013). He has been in the position to be the caregiver of his mother ever since she got an accident. Jimmy feels that he is tired and at the same time his mother is taking most of his time that he cannot be able also to live his life and achieve his targets. This is seen when he decides that he is going to introduce his mother to another caregiver so that he can also live a life.' This is all because he has all his attention and time attending to his mother. The theory is seen to put Jimmy at a position that makes him feel that he is the one that is being used up (Bartos, Wehr, 2015). This has since affected his caregiving skills and ability as he thinks he is being used up and so this makes him think of dropping the social work of caregiving. Strengths and Limitations of Conflict Theory The conflict theory helps individuals to understand and note when their fellow people are exploiting them. This has been able to give a warning to the exploiters as they will always be counteracted and their plans are dismantled. On the other hand, the theory has also been in the position to also have negative effects on the society. This is in the sense that the theory has been seen to be in the position to exploit individuals when it comes to the point of creating a gap between individuals who are closely related. This is whereby the theory will have to make an individual lose trust in the people they trusted and at the same time may also lead to separation among them. The theory has been seen not to be as useful in the social work as this will have to portray the work that is being done by the caregiver to be null (Bartos, Wehr, 2014). The caregiver will have to think that the people under their care are using them for their benefit. Conclusion In summary, social work theories are seen to have a significant effect to the caregivers and also to the society as a whole. This is in the sense that they will have to be in the position of either impacting a positive or negative aspect and behavior to the caregiver. However, if the elements of the social work theories are not properly analyzed they may lead someone adopting a negative behavior. Therefore, it is a responsibility of each social work to scrutinize the situation facing him or her and determine which ones are applicable. For the case of Jimmy, this paper has noted that he was able to overcome his problem of providing care to his mother by relying on the positive side of the theories. It is evident that Jimmy was in a state that was making him lose his mind, but because of the theories, he was able to sail through without a big problem. References Akers, R. Jensen, G. (2014).Social learning theory and the explanation of crime: a guide for the new century. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers. Akers, R. (2015).Social learning and social structure: a general theory of crime and deviance. New Brunswick N.J: Transaction Publishers. Bartos, O. Wehr, P. (2014).Using conflict theory. Cambridge New York: Cambridge University Press. 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