Social Work Questions

What is an ecological system perspective?

An ecological system perspective is the way we understand human behavior and hoow it is effected by the environment surrounding the human being. For instance, if I were to study a child's behavior from an ecological system perspective, I would not only look at the family's impact on this child's behavior, but also the school, church, neighborhood, etc. So, basically, the ecological system perspective is the "system" of people, places, and things that we as human beings are a part of, from the family to the community, and so on.

Cultural competence is required of social workers in order to provide effective service. What does cultural competence mean?

Cultural competence means having knowledge about the different individuals and groups of people in a communnity, and being able to use that knowledge in order to improve the quality of service in a particular cultural setting. A culturally competent social worker is one who values diversity, has the capacity for cultural self-assessment, is conscious of the dynamics inherent when cultures interact, is able to institutionalize cultural knowledge, and develop adaptations to service delivery reflecting and understanding of diversity between and within cultures. This level of cultural competence should be reflected in the social worker's attitudes, structures, policies, and services.

Choose one of the following theories: Freud's Psychosexual theory, Erikson's Psychosocial theory, or Piaget's Cognitive Development theory. Briefly describe the major concepts and how this theory has shaped modern day thinking.

According to Freud's Psychosexual theory, from the age of 0-2, the child goes through what he calls the "oral" stage in which the child's "pleasure source" is the mouth. Strong conflict at this stage can lead to "oral fixation", which has two possible outcomes: (1) the oral receptive personality, which are those who are preoccupied with eating/drinking and reduces tention through oral activity such as eating, drinking, etc. and, (2) the oral aggressive personality, which are those who are hostile and verbally abusive to others.

From the age of 2-4, the child go through the "anal" stage in which the anus becomes the "pleasure source". Strong conflict at this stage can lead to "anal fixation", which also has two possible outcomes: (1) the anal retentive personality, which are those who are stingy, w/ a compulsive seeeking of order and tidiness, and (2) the anal expulsve personality, which are those who are the opposite of anal retentive and have a lack of self control, being generally messy and careless.

From the age of 4-5, the child goes through the "phallic" stage in which the genitals become the "pleasure source". This stage cause boys to experience the "oedipal conflict" and the girls to experience the "electra conflict". The boy goes through "castration anxiety" in which he fears his father knows about his desires for his mother and is afraid his father will castrate him. The girl, on the other hand, suffers from "penis envy" in which she feels inferior because of the lack of penis.

From the age of 6-puberty, the child goes through a period of "latency" in which all the sexual urges are suppressed. Then from puberty onward, the child goes back into the "genital" stage in which the sexual urges are reawakened and the "pleasure source" is once again the genitals.

This theory has shaped modern day thinking by making people start to define gender rolls at a very young age. Instead of utilizing all colors for little babies, people will distinguish the colors blue as being for boys and pink as being for girls, and so on. They also have the belief that dolls are for girls and toy trucks are for boys, instead of all toys being for all children. Then there is the traditional husband and wife roles where the husband is the "bread winner" and the wife is the stay at home mom who cooks and cleans after everyone.

Compare a period in your life to one of the developmental stages.

When I was between the ages of 0-2, I started sucking my thumb. For the longest time after I got a little older, I would still suck my thumb. According to Freud's theory, I was in the "oral" stage and developed the oral receptive personality. Although I no longer suck my thumb, I think that the description of the oral receptive personality still applies to me on a certain level because I am often "passive, needy and sensitive to rejection".

What can happen to a child when he/she is malnourished?

When a child is malnourished, they lose alot of weight, their growth is stunted, they are at risk for experiencing academic and/or behavior problems, and/or they could starve to death.