In his opinion this is due to people having different interpretations of what exactly it is depending on the view they look at it from (e.g. the governments definition of social work may vary slightly to that of a member of the public). Taking into account the numerous definitions of social work, I personally believe that social work is about assessing clients needs, providing them with support/guidance/advice they need and empowering them so that they, in time, are able to help themselves. I believe that although the definitions of
C. Wright Mills theory of social imagination helps us understand that our own personal troubles do have an impact on the world around us. 4. Language is important because according to the Safir-Whorf hypothesis it not only expresses our thoughts but influences our perception of reality. 5. Self-concept,according to Mead is the theory of generalized other.
Rather, they interpret observations and several preexisting prototypes of others to enable us to create a richly detailed impression of another. Thus, getting to understand how the process by which these prototypes are shaped, changed, shared across a group of people that constitute a culture and how individuals apply them in categorizing others is a critical to understand identity(Spears, Lea, & Lee, 1990). According to the Social Identity Theory, individuals do not have a
The social constructionist perspective is one whereby human behaviour and development is seen to be strongly influenced by the social world surrounding us. Social constructionists see our daily interactions with others not merely as an exchange of individual perceptions and feelings transmitted neutrally between one another (Cooper et al., 2007, p.102), as cognitive psychologists might suggest, but as a construction and negotiation of meanings. This construction, negotiation and sometimes contestation of meanings between individuals is a continuous lifelong process and as such conflicts with the idea of behaviour, development and identity fixity. This essay will evaluate the contribution of the social constructionist perspective to lifespan psychology, language and meaning and gender and sex. In the topic of lifespan psychology, social constructionists’ contributions can be found in the interpretation of pretend play amongst children and in the concept of socio-cognitive conflict.
Part 1 Summarise two theories of identity and compare their usefulness for explaining the real-world issues discussed in Chapter 1, 'Identities and diversities'. The study of identity is primarily focused on understanding people and the way they live their daily lives. Identity has become a common topic in contemporary society, be that through media, everyday talk or through psychological research. Due to the many ways in which identity can be presented it can become unclear as to what identity actually means. Of the three theories given, psychosocial and social constructionist theories of identity will be summarised and shown how these theories compare when studying the identity of those with physical disabilities.
Historical Perspectives of Abnormal Psychology Abnormal psychology is defined as the study of psychological characteristics that often deviate outside of the norm (Cherry, 2005). This perspective generally encompasses an array of perspectives ranging from disorders to altered mental patterns that affect the normal functioning of an individual as part of society. Typically, this type of impairment is accompanied by behavior, either disruptive or of a distorted nature. There are several approaches used in abnormal psychology in addition, it is important to examine the origin of abnormal psychology in an effort to rationalize the evolution of this scientific discipline (Cherry, 2005). To understand the basis of abnormal psychology, it is essential to recognize that the individuals who make up these categories fall very far at the other end of the normal spectrum.
Psychosocial theory recognises personal and social element of identity however Erikson seen them as interlinked and treated them separately. `Sit` only considered social identity element and explains our identity is entirely dependent on social status of a group an individual belongs to. This essay will firstly consider aspects of history and traditions within two theories. Then it will look how identity is conceptualised within psychosocial and `sit`s` themes, like its fixity and a role of embodiment. Both Erikson`s psychosocial and Tajfels ‘sit’ have some differences as well as similarities and have both equally influenced research on identities, However they have both traditions originating from before their times.
PART ONE The social constructionist perspective suggests that identities are constructed through language and social relation. Illustrate the strengths and weaknesses of this statement with examples of research studies from this and one other perspective. The theory of social constructionism is a relatively new concept that explores the development of identity; a question of how uniqueness and diversity is formed within us has preoccupied psychologists since the time of Freud and Jung. The social constructionism ideology states that our identities are de-centred and multiple and it has been argued by these theorists that there is a continual building of identity and a sense of our place in the world by individuals according to interaction with society, however small and transient. The theory also includes that as well as identity evolving, it is provisional as it is dependent on situation and cultural influences.
However in today's society, psychologists have been able to do research on the way human’s behaviour react in different situations with different participants to be able to get a generalized result but to do so they must first distinguish if the participant is showing social or personal identities. Unlike in early psychology when it was focused on an individual, researchers have now found the most effective way of finding results is looking at the social context when studying behaviour. To be able to get an indiscriminate result, psychologists have to look at what groups their participants belong too. This means the age, sex and nationality among many other things. When we belong to certain groups, most of the time we are unaware of how the socially derived structure actually affects us in the way which we behave.
In other words, reality is not fixed, it is socially constructed. Social construction of reality was introduced by Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann to identify the process by which people creatively shape reality through social interaction. Human worlds are socially produced, changed and modified. And as one person presents himself in terms that suits his purpose and as other do the same, a complex reality emerges. People become social through the process of socialization-lifelong social experience by which individuals construct their personal biography, acquire daily interactional rules and patterns of their culture.