Of your own health experiences and the way they have been impacted by your own socio-cultural background and how you think about health.
Harvard style referencing Please
Assessment Questions
Firstly, think about how your family perceive about health and illness.
What is their understanding of health and illness? How do they treat illness? How do they decide when medical help needed? What are their preferred ways of managing health and illness?
Secondly, compare how your personal view about health and illness with how your family and other people in your community see it.
What is your personal view around health and illness? Is it similar to what your family think, or it is different and why? Is your family act differently to the most people in the community? If they are different, then explain why and how their behaviour was shaped in a way that is different to others in the community.
Thirdly, critique about the responsibility to health and managing illnesses.
Who do you think is responsible for health – the individual involved, the family, the society in which he or she lives, the government, health services or others? Discuss why you think that way.
Finally, discuss how socio-cultural context of populations impacts health.
Discuss the ways socio-cultural context of population might affect professional practice in public health, including why it is necessary for a public health practitioner to be aware of socio-cultural differences in health.
When working with offenders, many of whom may have already been labelled (Becker 1963) as career criminals or persistent offenders, the concept of secondary desistence is crucial. At times, offenders may find themselves relegated to being considered second class citizens or even an ‘underclass’ (Murray 1996). This way of thinking, if it becomes normalised, can lead to society deciding that the offenders have become ‘undeserving’ through their own choice. A further potential impact of this may be what Merton (1968) calls self-fulfilling prophecy. Where individuals do exactly what is expected from them in a negative way. This can especially be seen when dealing with young people and can result in a ‘master status’ (McAlister et al 2009). A quote from a young person illustrates the thought processes; “It just makes us do more…if they have a name, they may as well live up to it.” (ibid 2009:42). Labelling can lead to ‘forced choices, to unnecessary competition, and to unequal relationships in which one half of the pair is viewed as inferior and the other as superior’ (Kolb-Morris 1993).
The use of theory in the social work process is critical to effective practice; it gives a working knowledge of the underpinning theory and the theory to intervene. Indeed, the very definition of social work is “a practice-based profession and an academic discipline that promotes social change and development, social cohesion, and the empowerment and liberation of people. Principles of social justice, human rights, collective responsibility and respect for diversities are central to social work. Underpinned by theories of social work, social sciences, humanities and indigenous knowledge, social work engages people and structures to address life challenges and enhance wellbeing” (www.ifsw.org).