Humanistic And Psychodynamic Perspectives Psychology Essay

Humanistic And Psychodynamic Perspectives Psychology Essay Psychology has been influenced by many schools and theorists it is always developing, growing and changing with society. In this essay I will identify, outline and compare two psychological theories. The theories I have chosen are humanistic theory founded by Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow and psychoanalytic theory founded by Sigmund Freud and influenced by Carl Jung. I will be comparing these two theories, look at the conflicting differences between them and I will give my opinion in where I feel they sit in the Nature versus Nurture debate. I will discuss how both theories can be applied to social work as well as considering the cross cultural aspects and the implications of both theories in relation to indigenous peoples and gender. The humanistic school was founded later than the other two dominant schools of psychology, which are behaviour and psychoanalytic. Humanistic theory is often referred as the third force in psychology. (Humanism, n.d, para.2 and 3). Humanistic theorists felt that behaviourists focused too heavy on the behaviour of animals while the psychoanalytic theorists focused too heavily on the unconscious mind. The humanistic theory focuses on an individuals uniqueness. The humanistic perspective suggests that people are naturally good and strongly highlights self-actualisation with a majority of individuals choosing goal directed, adaptive and self-actualising behaviours. Theorists of humanistic perspective emphasise the idea that an individual has free will and is capable of choosing their own actions. (Approaches to Psychology, n.d., para. 1). It represents a positive view of human experience. Humanistic theory focuses on the element of the personality that are human based not animal or plant based. There are two well known theorists that have contributed to humanistic theory Carl Rodgers and Abraham Maslow. Carl Rogers (1902 1987) was an American Psychologist. He was considered one of the founding fathers of humanistic theory. He was well known for his person centred approach. He excelled in various areas such as student learning therapy and client centred therapy. In 1956 the American Psychological Association recognised his work and research and awarded him with the distinguished scientific contributions award and in 1972 he was given the award for distinguished professional contributions to psychology he was also nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. (Carl Rogers, n.d, para. 1 and 2). Abraham Maslow (1908-1970) was an American Psychologist. He created a theory of self-actualisation called Maslows hierarchy of needs. Built up like a pyramid Maslow stated that when an individual has ascended to the top of the five levels he/she has reached self-actualisation. The five levels are physiological, safety, love and belonging, esteem and self actualisation. (Abraham Maslow, n.d, para. 1 and 10). Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) was the founding father of psychoanalytic theory, he is regarded to be one of the most influential theorists of the 20th century but he was also the most controversial and criticised theorist especially his Psychosexual development theory which Freud believed to be the foundation of development he outline five stages, Oral stage, Anal stage, phallic stage, latency stage and genital stage. Some of the people who were critical of some of his theories were his fellow psychoanalytic theorists such as Carl Jung and Alfred Adler who stated that Freud had over emphasised sexual instincts. (Sigmund Freud, n.d, para. 1 and 2). The underlying principles of psychodynamic perspective is that an individuals behaviour is largely the result of unconscious processes, motivation and early experiences. (Weston, Burton Kowalski, 2005, p. 25). Psychoanalytic theorists emphasise that a childs early experiences with their parents largely shapes development, behaviour and personality. Freuds unconscious mind theory includes the famous iceberg metaphor. The tip of the iceberg being the conscious mind (what we are aware of) and the bottom of the iceberg which is largely hidden under the waters surface is what Freud believed to be the unconscious mind (deplorable urges, feelings and thoughts). (Weston, Burton Kowalski, 2005, p. 12). Freud believed that the human personality was split into three parts the id, the superego and the ego. The id sits in the unconscious and it operates under impulse and impatience. The super ego is unconscious and it is the part that controls guilt as well as our sense of right and wrong. The ego is conscious and is the balancing and rationalising part of the mind it has to balance impulses of the id and the guilt of the super ego. (Santrock, 2008, p. 40) In the Nature versus Nurture debate, humanistic theory is considered Nurture because a persons behaviour is learnt from the environment which surrounds them as well as choice and free will. Psychoanalytic theory is considered Nature because it focuses on the behaviour of conscious and the unconscious mind. Humanistic and psychodynamic perspectives are the complete opposite of each other. Humanistic theory is centred around behaviour and mental process they criticised psychoanalytic theorists of being too focussed on the unconscious mind. (Theoretical perspectives in psychology, n.d, para. 3). Humanistic theory focuses on the positive influences of behaviour such as uniqueness, choice, self actualisation and free will while psychodynamic focuses on the negative influences of behaviour such as unacceptable sexual urges and deplorable thoughts. Humanistic theory emphasises that people are born good and psychodynamic theory emphasises that people are born bad and that everything people do has a selfish motive. (Theoretical perspectives in psychology, n.d, para. 2). Humanistic theorists emphasise that an individual has free will and choice and that an individual is influenced by the environment in which surrounds them. Psychodynamic theory emphasises that an individual has very little free will and very little self control and reject the idea of free will. Psychodynamic t heory focuses on the individuals dark side, the unconscious mind. Psychodynamic theorists believe that it is the force of the unconscious mind that shapes personality. The humanistic perspective focuses on how human behaviour can be changed or modified through self actualisation. They emphasise the central role of consciousness in shaping our behaviours, assuming that personal experience is a powerful medium for people to become more self aware and self directed in life. (Westen, Burton Kowalski, 2006, p. 17). Whereas the psychodynamic approach is that adult personality cant be changed it is set from a young age. (Theoretical perspectives in psychology, n.d, para. 2). The approach humanistic therapist or clinicians take is through empathy, warmth and respect. It is very person centred. The approach psychodynamic clinician would take is to interpret meanings through verbalised thought and behaviour. They would observe posture, fantasies and dreams which could be referred to as the s tudy of the mind not the study of the person and their environment. The social work profession is largely influenced by the humanistic approach. As Carl Rogers famously stated It is the client who knows what hurts, what directions to go, what problems are crucial, what experiences have been deeply buried. (About.com, n.d, para. 3). As a social worker in Aotearoa we work with a range of cultures and practice in a non judgemental way. The humanistic approach could be used across a range of cultures and still be highly effective for the client. As a social worker it is our job to work with clients not be the experts and the humanistic approach allows the client to reflect on the situation to find the answers instead of us telling them what they should change. The humanistic approach would be for the social worker to find out how the client perceives themselves and work with the client to recognise their inner strengths and potential in order for the client to achieve self direction, responsibilities and growth. Another humanistic model can be applied to social work through Maslows hierarchy of needs. This model would be very effective not only for the client but for the social worker, as they can get a clear understanding of what is going on in the clients life for example financial stability, housing, safety, childrens well being, domestic violence and how the client maybe coping in general. (Humanistic theories, n.d, para. 2). The psychodynamic approach in the application to social work would be allowing the client to talk about the situation in depth and the social worker listening, making notes and asking open questions to explore the situation more in depth. The psychodynamic approach focuses on the unconscious that are shown through the client behaviour and the client understanding how past experiences influence their present behaviour. (Psychodynamic therapy, n.d, para. 1). The psychodynamic approach helps the client to realise and explore their feelings which have been repressed into the unconscious mind. (Good therapy, n.d, para. 1). Social workers in Aotearoa work with a range of cultures therefore as practitioners we need to be culturally aware and sensitive. Not all psychological theories will fit with every culture or gender, we as social workers must consider the barriers to the application of different theories to different cultures. For example Psychoanalytic is a male established and driven theory which feminists may see as offensive because in their view they may see it as degrading also a lot of indigenous cultures work as a collective whereas Western culture is centred around survival of the fittest, the individual and because psychoanalytic focuses on the individual not the family it could be seen as highly offensive so it would be inappropriate and offensive to apply this theory in these two situations. Humanistic theory can be applied to a large range of cultures easily because of person centred approach; this theory is more adaptable to the collective family approach as well as the individual appro ach but its down side is that this theory was designed, established and tested on white middle class males the practitioner would have to keep that in mind when applying this theory in practice with different cultures. In conclusion to this essay I have identified, outlined and compared two completely different theories, it has been established within this essay that humanistic and psychoanalytic are two very conflicting theories with very different ideas and methods but both are two very influential schools within psychology. The theorists I have mentioned Sigmund Freud, Carl Rodgers and Abraham Maslow without a doubt heavily shaped and influenced psychology in their own ways. Both theories have very different approaches but both emphasise the importance of how adult behaviour is established by early childhood environment and experiences. In the application of social work this essay explains how humanistic theory is a positive more empathetic approach, it is person centred with the person reflecting and searching for answers whereas psychoanalytic approach focuses on the negative, the deep unconscious thoughts and is expert orientated. I have also considered cross cultural aspects of both theories and explained the implications in relation to gender issues such as feminism and race issues such as indigenous people and how applying these theories to different culture or gender may influence ineffective intervention.

Mitch Alboms Tuesdays with Morrie :: Essays Papers

My Tuesdays with Morrie Mitch Albom, author of Tuesdays with Morrie, is flipping through his TV stations one night and he heard these words come from his TV set- â€Å"Who is Morrie Schwartz?†- And Mitch went numb. Mitch found out through the TV show â€Å"Nightline† that his life long friend and teacher is dying and Mitch knows that he has to go and see him. Mitch goes to see his old college professor and what starts out as a one-day meeting turns into a four-month â€Å"class†. The class is conducted in Morrie’s house in the suburb or Boston, there is no books or any other students, just Mitch and Morrie. Throughout this class Morrie teaches Mitch the lessons of life; lessons such as death, fear, aging, greed, marriage, family, society, forgiveness, and a meaningful life. As Morrie’s conditions worsen, Mitch’s condition is getting better, Mitch is becoming a better person with the help of Morrie. Finally Morrie’s life comes to an end, and Mitch graduates from Life 101. â€Å"I felt the seeds of death inside his shriveling frame, and as I laid him in his chair, adjusting his head on the pillow, I had the coldest realization that our time was running out.† (Pg. 59) That is what Mitch, a journal writer for the Detroit Free Press, said as he lifted his old college teacher from his wheelchair to his recliner. His old college teacher is Morrie Schwartz, a man that is dying from ALS otherwise known as Lou Gehrig disease. As the book goes on, Morrie reaches out to people who want to talk and he teaches them about the real lessons of life, while he is lying on his deathbed. Tuesdays With Morrie is an excellent book because Morrie teaches Mitch lessons about marriage, greed, and family that young adults can learn from. â€Å"Love each other or perish†. This quote sums up all of Morrie’s views and beliefs on the topic of marriage and love. This statement says a lot and I feel that young adults can learn a very big lesson from this short quote. Love and marriage are very important because we all need someone to love and to love back, if we don’t we are going to live a very lonely and unhappy life. There is a set of â€Å"rules† that Morrie stated in this book that I feel young adults could learn a lot from.

Contemporary Status of Women in the Us Essay

Women have come a long way from the early 1900’s when they gained their equal right to vote, to now where it seems women have equal rights to do just about anything. Women have been increasingly joining the economic work force since the last 100 years or so. Although, women in the work force have been increasing in numbers are they given an equal and fair chance compared to that of men? A quick glance on the subject would suggest that women are given equal and fair chances in the work force; however, upon closer inspection it seems women in fact are not given the same fair and equal opportunities as men. Women are subjected to occupation gender segregation and unfair pay gaps in comparison to men. Nevertheless, women are working diligently and successfully to break down these unjust barriers that are keeping them from having equal opportunities. According to Margaret L. Andersen and Dana Hysock Witham, in Thinking about Women: Sociological Perspectives on Sex and Gender, gender segregation is â€Å"the pattern whereby women and men are situated in different jobs thought the labor force† (128). This can be made an example of in obvious occupations such as: kindergarten and preschool teachers, nurses, librarians, and house cleaners, versus college professors, doctors, lawyers, and construction works. The former, when typically imagined, the first image that comes to mind is a woman, whereas the latter is associated with a man. These occupations are associated with certain genders because generally speaking those jobs are and have traditionally been a certain gender dominated. Philip N. Cohen, and Matt L. Huffman, in Occupational Segregation and the Devaluation of Women’s Work Across U. S. Labor Markets, hypothesis that gender segregation in the workforce exists because of the â€Å"discrimination both in the allocation of workers across the job categories and in how female-dominated jobs are rewarded relative to male-dominated jobs† (882). Women are â€Å"blocked access† to typical male dominated jobs because of social ideas and cultural norms that say that women cannot effectively do the work of men, which requires intellect, leadership, hard labor, and other skills traditionally associated with men. Rather, women are kept in low paying jobs that often do not lead to promotions and involve skills that they have traditionally been known for, such as cooking, cleaning, taking care of children, obeying men’s orders, and things of that nature. Because women and men are kept in jobs that relate to their traditional gender based skills, it creates a segregation of the labor force instead of creating a heterogeneous labor force were men and women are equally interested in and are hired in certain occupations. Women’s work is also often undervalued in society, especially in comparison to the work of men. Because of this undervaluing of women’s work women are additionally rewarded far less than men are. A wage gap is the difference between the earnings of men and women in the workforce. Today â€Å"women earn only 77 percent of what men earn, at least on average† (DeNavas-Walt qtd. in Andersen and Hysock Witham 137). The wage gap between women and men can be attributed to occupational segregation and wage discrimination. Occupational segregation places women in lower skilled jobs that underutilize and devalues women’s skills and potential to work and be successful in the labor force (Karamessini and Ioakimoglou 34). Employers usually pay their employee’s wages that they see fit in relation to, how much they deem an employee and his or her skills are worth in the company, and how they contribute to the company. Because women’s work and skills are undervalued by a majority of society they are in turn paid less compared to men. Additionally, women usually seek out or are put into jobs that are women dominated. Again since women’s work is undervalued, once an occupation becomes a woman dominated occupation, the job itself becomes less valuable and people in that job eventually are paid less in that occupation compared to if it had been a male dominated occupation. The wage gap is also impacted by wage discrimination. The unequal pay of women based on gender rather than qualifications and skills is wage discrimination. In Joel T. Nadler and Margaret S. Stockdale’s article, Workplace Gender Bias: Not Just Between Strangers they quote Kolesnikova ;amp; liu , â€Å"Although the gender wage gap has been decreasing over the last thirty years there is still a difference in salary between men and women in similar careers with similar experience† (282). Women are still being paid less than men despite having equal or better fit skills and or qualifications than men. Women are making progress in making the wage gap between men and women non-existent, however, progress has been slowing. Women are slowly but surely making significant progress in leveling the playing field in the labor market for both men and women. Progress can be seen in closing the wage gap between genders and in the desegregating of gender based jobs. â€Å"The earnings gap between men and women has shrunk to a record low†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Dennis 01a). Dennis attributes it to the prosperity of women in the 21century economy and the fact that the recession has negatively affected men’s pay. He additionally continues to discuss how not only has white women’s wages increased, black women’s wages have also seen an increase in the past nine years. Women’s wages have been slowly increasing and becoming even with that of men. This increase can be attributed to women breaking down barriers of gender segregation in the work force. â€Å"Women have been moving into high-paying professional jobs such as accountants, lawyers and physician† (Dennis 01a). These occupations are typically male dominated. However, it seems in recent years the occupations’ genders have been less homogenous and more of an even or close to even mixture of both genders. As women are taking over more male dominated jobs, such as perhaps managerial jobs, it seems that there are sacrifices that women have to make where as men usually do not. â€Å"Studies indicate career oriented women are more likely to delay relationships or children in order to advance their careers† (Hoffnung qtd. Nadler and Stockdale 282). Because women are taking on traditionally male dominated occupations they are under extra scrutiny and watch, therefore, women feel the pressure to perform well and make sacrifices in the name of their job. Women can feel that in order to be successful they are required to choose work over family life. The pressures over performing well in a women’s career life and also balancing their social or family life can create anxiety and unhealthy stress for women. Although, women have been successful in further closing the wage gap and breaking down gender segregation within the workforce, their progress it seems has also come at the price of choosing a career or a family. Although women have come a long way since the early 1900’s it seems that they are still subjected to unequal treatment compared to men. Women face gender segregation in the workforce which makes it difficult to attain prestigious and high paying jobs. Women are also subjected to being paid less than men regardless of having equal or superior skills. Nevertheless, women are facing these obstacles head on. Women are now more than CEO’s, they are leveling the playing field between genders in the labor force and re demanding, and showing that they deserve equal pay.

Economic and Social Changes - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 4 Words: 1088 Downloads: 5 Date added: 2019/05/07 Category History Essay Level High school Tags: Industrial Revolution Essay Did you like this example? While economic and social changes have occurred throughout history, certain time periods have seen extraordinary developments. One such time was the Industrial Revolution in England. There were developments on the way of life mostly the economic and social ways of life. People completely switched from a way of working in their homes and farms to working under very harsh conditions in factories. As for the way it affected the people, these changes all affected women, children, and men, in ways that are impressively out of mind. There were now social classes from those at the bottom who struggle to live to those who owned factories and such things that were wealthy enough to solve problems but never did. This new separation of classes obviously leads to the realization that there were now many economic changes brought by these other changes in ways of producing goods and ways of life. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Economic and Social Changes" essay for you Create order With all of these documents put together, we can clearly see how both major positive and negative, economic and social changes combined as one and led to the formation of the Industrial Revolution. The way that people lived and worked during the Industrial Revolution changed very drastically, for the working class their way of living and working was completely unfair, dangerous, and unhealthy compared to the way that the wealthy would live at the time. The danger of working in these factories is exposed from the view of a worker who has seen it happen. (Doc. 3)Told me that it was caused by the dust in the factories and from overwork and insufficient diet. He was cut by a machine and died of infection. These two pieces of evidence coming from the voice of a worker in the factory clearly show that the conditions that these workers worked under were very harsh. Most importantly this is significant because even though everyone was aware of the conditions that these people worked under, nobody that could do anything to try and prevent it. The living conditions of the working class are described as disgraceful unhealthy slums and disgusting conditions.(Doc. 6B) Just by reading these two pieces of the documents we can already see how horrendous the conditions that these workers lived in were. In this same document we can see that once again, the wealthy owners of these factories just cared about the money being made, not the well being of their workers. And yet there is a great deal of money being made here. This feeling of unfairness was very bad for the well being of the society overall because nobody except those who were at the top of the social order, were happy with their living conditions and eventually this could be the cause of revolt within the workers. Obviously, it can be noticed that the social changes caused a positive and negative affect towards this all. Machinery was a good social change during the Industrial Revolution. It changed many peoples lives by producing products much quicker with less money and greater accessibility. The mule is an example of the good use of machinery. It was powered by water and spins thread resulting that Edmund Cartwrights automatic power loom weave thread into clothes represented by Document 4. It affected their society a lot because it saved a big amount of time and money. For a matter of fact, Machinery was used for its good use but there were the bad also. It was life-threatening and cleaningness wasnt really the number 1 priority, The assembly line was a good source of social change because the workers would get their jobs done quickly by having all different numbers of workers working on different tasks to be able to finish at the end of the day. Containing workers that do all variety of work at the same time is an increased productivity. Explaining the domestic system gives us the understanding of the assembly line with the illustrations of the sheep and the use of the words of all groups are working on the opposite thing then the other like it is demonstrated in Document 1. The assembly line affected their society in the ways as to not having to work for the day and night and can actually be with their families. It reduces the number of products for a day. Due to machinery, productions are now cut to a short amount of time. As economic activities in many societies moved from agriculture to manufacturing, production shifted from its traditional locations in the home and the small workshop to factories. A large amount of the population relocated from the countryside to the towns and cities where manufacturing centers were found. The overall amount of goods and services produced expanded dramatically, and the proportion of capital invested per each worker grew. New groups of investors, business people, and managers took financial risks and reaped great rewards. The existing system could not keep up with the demand for goods. More consumers had sufficient income to afford exotic goods such as Cotton cloth and China. These were the rising middle class. Traders realized that if they could produce goods in greater quantity at a cheaper price, they could find more consumers and make a higher profit. Overall, the Industrial Revolution was one of the many times of drastic changes and booming of ideas in history. Changes that would affect the most important areas of societies from the day-to-day life to the economic parts of England. As always, there are positive and negative effects on every cause. In this case, most of these effects were negative. That was because the majority of the population, like always, was composed of the lower class people, therefore most of the population lived under very disgusting and bad conditions. Also since this level in the social class was composed of the working class, they were under very harsh and forced working conditions, which affected both their mental and physical health. Unquestionably as for the small amount of the population at the top of the social class they would definitely see many positive changes coming their way, yet they still never paid attention to the conditions of those under them. At this point in time, the wealthy wanted everyone else to believe and follow the same mindset that they followed, this built up a sense of absolutism throughout the populations. This type of sensor is not right because everyone has different life experiences and nobody other than the people who are going through these things themselves, should be told to support a cause.