1. Share the population you chose for your course project. Consider which type of agency, Charity Organization Societies or the Settlement Houses, would best meet the needs of that group. Explain why, supporting your analysis with course and outside readings. ****(project below)
2.You are the social worker for Joe's family and are tasked with completing an assessment on the family.
(movie Joe the King)
- What are all of the cognitive factors involved, for each family member?
- How might these cognitive factors influence family dynamics?
- How might these cognitive factors influence biological or societal systems with which they are involved?
1
6
Joe the King
Student Name
Course
Date
Introduction
Human behavior is multifaceted because everyone knows that human beings have critical drives. Still, it can be challenging to understand how they make decisions and convince others why they made those decisions. Therefore, understanding and employing this knowledge helps social workers use different theories to explain behaviors and achieve positive outcomes for their clients. Approaches help social workers in comprehension and making positive behavior changes. This paper studies the movie Joe the King, and the most suitable theory for the case is Erikson’s psychosocial development theory. This theory will help reveal the underlying family problems in Henry’s family and scrutinize them under the eight developmental stages that define conflict resolution and adaptation to the environment.
Case Study
The movie “Joe the King” revolves around a boy called Henry who has two siblings, Joe and Mike, who are the oldest. The other family members include their dad, Bob, a drunkard and gambler, and a terrified and hardworking but shy mother called Teresa. The case study focuses on the issues surrounding Joe’s family, where Joe’s elder brother Mike appears to lead an ordinary life with ordinary friends, yet Joe gets ignored by him frequently. Due to Joe’s poor relationship with his father, he becomes a rebellious teenager, although he still deeply cares about everyone in his family (Gajos et al., 2022). However, Mike is ashamed of Joe, and his peers constantly remind him how a loser Joe is. He is only an outsider and is convinced that Joe’s engagement in crime is the only way to escape these challenges, which lands him in juvenile.
Critical Components in Erikson's Theory
Social workers dealing with Henry's family conflict would use Erik Erikson’s Psychosocial Development theory. According to this theory, every one of those eight phases represents contradictory challenges, which are to be successfully overcome for building confidence and social usefulness, and warns that it can lead to individuals feeling insufficient if these phases are not managed appropriately. Erikson’s development theory focuses on maintaining the proper balance between positive and negative human behavior since infancy to ensure that individuals can overcome life challenges and understand the world around them (Gross, 2020). For example, concerning the Henry family depicted in the film "Joe the King," the initial phase, Trust vs. mistrust, assesses if a child can trust adults. Joe appears to lack Trust with the people in his life, probably because he was not given consistent care. At the Autonomy vs Shame and Doubt stage, Joe appears to be in control of his body but feels ashamed or doubts about the other aspects of his life. In the Initiative vs. Guilt stage, Erikson argues that guilt is associated with arrogance and power, and Joe has no self-esteem due to parents who fail to support him, which aggravates his feelings of worthlessness and guilt.
On the other hand, the generativity vs. stagnation stage depicts Joe experiencing stagnation, especially in his power to contribute effectively among his peers, and he senses that he does not get it at all. Lastly, Ego Integrity vs. Despair occurs in adulthood when individuals reflect on their past lives. Although Joe and Mike are not at this stage yet, their parents can evaluate their behavior and make the necessary mistakes they have committed to raising their children (Juengst et al., 2022).
Evaluation, Assessment & Intervention
As per Erikson's theory, the Henry family's development stages are remarkably affected by the family dynamics in the movie "Joe the King." In order to better evaluate how well the Henry family was fairing, BRCS, a self-report of assessment of individual resilience and developmental progress, was used. The scale also helps the social worker measure the resilience level so that they can make better assessments, interventions, and evaluations. Using this scale for analysis in addition to information from the film, it is possible to locate the source of the crisis for effective intervention. Also, social workers should understand the merits and demerits of Erikson's theory before assessment to avoid falling prey to these dimensions.
Strengths and Weaknesses
According to Erikson’s Theory, human personality develops due to different challenges and opportunities individuals encounter daily. It significantly contributes to creating an individual's conscious identity, which impacts conduct and development over one's lifespan. Erikson acknowledges that many crises exist in life, and in each phase, people go through different challenges which play a huge role in one's development. This aligns with Erikson’s theory, which can be applied in simplifying Henry's family and explaining why each member behaved a certain way. One of the theory's weaknesses is that failure to succeed at any stage does not necessarily mean that subsequent stages will not succeed, and it could not be tested scientifically because success cannot be measured on these conceptual terms.
Potential Implications
When applying Erikson’s theory in social work, the worker can be influenced by internal and external factors; for each action, an accompanying consequence affects the individuals involved (Zatraw et al., 2019). An illustration of this from the movie “Joe the King” is when Joe is sent to juvenile, and his father feels remorseful and openly expresses how much he loves Joe.
Cultural Competency
Cultural competency is critical in social work as it forms the basis for successful relationship establishment. According to the NASW code of ethics, social workers should be cognizant of the impact of culture on human behavior and social life. Social workers should also appreciate every culture's strong and weak points, making them cross-cultural. When dealing with the Henry family, engaging with them non-judgmentally without criticizing their culture is necessary, as explained above. Such an approach, however, is beneficial in ensuring better responses towards a given assessment, intervention, or evaluation, thus paving ways toward meaningful engagement with the family.
Conclusion
The Henry family needs Erikson’s psychosocial development theory to address the current dynamics of the environment. This theory could lead to meaningful changes in people's behavior since it helps people understand themselves better in terms of personality changes during periods of psychosocial crisis in their lifespan. Applying this theory in analyzing the Henry family's situation, especially concerning Joe, can help inform interventions leading to adaptive behaviors necessary for healthy and balanced development through the evaluation of Erikson’s psychosocial development stages. Therefore, aspiring social workers may acquire hands-on training in analyzing family dynamics through a case example of the Henry family.
References
Gajos, J. M., Miller, C. R., Leban, L., & Cropsey, K. L. (2022). Adverse childhood experiences and adolescent mental health: Understanding the roles of gender and teenage risk and protective factors. Journal of affective disorders, 314, 303-308.
Gross, Y. (2020). Erikson's stages of psychosocial development. The Wiley Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences: Models and Theories, 179-184.
Juengst, S. B., Erler, K. S., Neumann, D., Kew, C. L. N., Goldin, Y., O'Neil-Pirozzi, T. M., … & Dijkers, M. (2022). Participation importance and satisfaction across the lifespan: A traumatic brain injury model systems study. Rehabilitation Psychology, 67(3), 344.
Zastrow, C., Kirst-Ashman, K. K., & Hessenauer, S. L. (2019). Empowerment series: Understanding human behavior and the social environment. Cengage Learning.
,
1
6
Joe the King
Student Name
Course
Date
Introduction
Human behavior is multifaceted because everyone knows that human beings have critical drives. Still, it can be challenging to understand how they make decisions and convince others why they made those decisions. Therefore, understanding and employing this knowledge helps social workers use different theories to explain behaviors and achieve positive outcomes for their clients. Approaches help social workers in comprehension and making positive behavior changes. This paper studies the movie Joe the King, and the most suitable theory for the case is Erikson’s psychosocial development theory. This theory will help reveal the underlying family problems in Henry’s family and scrutinize them under the eight developmental stages that define conflict resolution and adaptation to the environment.
Case Study
The movie “Joe the King” revolves around a boy called Henry who has two siblings, Joe and Mike, who are the oldest. The other family members include their dad, Bob, a drunkard and gambler, and a terrified and hardworking but shy mother called Teresa. The case study focuses on the issues surrounding Joe’s family, where Joe’s elder brother Mike appears to lead an ordinary life with ordinary friends, yet Joe gets ignored by him frequently. Due to Joe’s poor relationship with his father, he becomes a rebellious teenager, although he still deeply cares about everyone in his family (Gajos et al., 2022). However, Mike is ashamed of Joe, and his peers constantly remind him how a loser Joe is. He is only an outsider and is convinced that Joe’s engagement in crime is the only way to escape these challenges, which lands him in juvenile.
Critical Components in Erikson's Theory
Social workers dealing with Henry's family conflict would use Erik Erikson’s Psychosocial Development theory. According to this theory, every one of those eight phases represents contradictory challenges, which are to be successfully overcome for building confidence and social usefulness, and warns that it can lead to individuals feeling insufficient if these phases are not managed appropriately. Erikson’s development theory focuses on maintaining the proper balance between positive and negative human behavior since infancy to ensure that individuals can overcome life challenges and understand the world around them (Gross, 2020). For example, concerning the Henry family depicted in the film "Joe the King," the initial phase, Trust vs. mistrust, assesses if a child can trust adults. Joe appears to lack Trust with the people in his life, probably because he was not given consistent care. At the Autonomy vs Shame and Doubt stage, Joe appears to be in control of his body but feels ashamed or doubts about the other aspects of his life. In the Initiative vs. Guilt stage, Erikson argues that guilt is associated with arrogance and power, and Joe has no self-esteem due to parents who fail to support him, which aggravates his feelings of worthlessness and guilt.
On the other hand, the generativity vs. stagnation stage depicts Joe experiencing stagnation, especially in his power to contribute effectively among his peers, and he senses that he does not get it at all. Lastly, Ego Integrity vs. Despair occurs in adulthood when individuals reflect on their past lives. Although Joe and Mike are not at this stage yet, their parents can evaluate their behavior and make the necessary mistakes they have committed to raising their children (Juengst et al., 2022).
Evaluation, Assessment & Intervention
As per Erikson's theory, the Henry family's development stages are remarkably affected by the family dynamics in the movie "Joe the King." In order to better evaluate how well the Henry family was fairing, BRCS, a self-report of assessment of individual resilience and developmental progress, was used. The scale also helps the social worker measure the resilience level so that they can make better assessments, interventions, and evaluations. Using this scale for analysis in addition to information from the film, it is possible to locate the source of the crisis for effective intervention. Also, social workers should understand the merits and demerits of Erikson's theory before assessment to avoid falling prey to these dimensions.
Strengths and Weaknesses
According to Erikson’s Theory, human personality develops due to different challenges and opportunities individuals encounter daily. It significantly contributes to creating an individual's conscious identity, which impacts conduct and development over one's lifespan. Erikson acknowledges that many crises exist in life, and in each phase, people go through different challenges which play a huge role in one's development. This aligns with Erikson’s theory, which can be applied in simplifying Henry's family and explaining why each member behaved a certain way. One of the theory's weaknesses is that failure to succeed at any stage does not necessarily mean that subsequent stages will not succeed, and it could not be tested scientifically because success cannot be measured on these conceptual terms.
Potential Implications
When applying Erikson’s theory in social work, the worker can be influenced by internal and external factors; for each action, an accompanying consequence affects the individuals involved (Zatraw et al., 2019). An illustration of this from the movie “Joe the King” is when Joe is sent to juvenile, and his father feels remorseful and openly expresses how much he loves Joe.
Cultural Competency
Cultural competency is critical in social work as it forms the basis for successful relationship establishment. According to the NASW code of ethics, social workers should be cognizant of the impact of culture on human behavior and social life. Social workers should also appreciate every culture's strong and weak points, making them cross-cultural. When dealing with the Henry family, engaging with them non-judgmentally without criticizing their culture is necessary, as explained above. Such an approach, however, is beneficial in ensuring better responses towards a given assessment, intervention, or evaluation, thus paving ways toward meaningful engagement with the family.
Conclusion
The Henry family needs Erikson’s psychosocial development theory to address the current dynamics of the environment. This theory could lead to meaningful changes in people's behavior since it helps people understand themselves better in terms of personality changes during periods of psychosocial crisis in their lifespan. Applying this theory in analyzing the Henry family's situation, especially concerning Joe, can help inform interventions leading to adaptive behaviors necessary for healthy and balanced development through the evaluation of Erikson’s psychosocial development stages. Therefore, aspiring social workers may acquire hands-on training in analyzing family dynamics through a case example of the Henry family.
References
Gajos, J. M., Miller, C. R., Leban, L., & Cropsey, K. L. (2022). Adverse childhood experiences and adolescent mental health: Understanding the roles of gender and teenage risk and protective factors. Journal of affective disorders, 314, 303-308.
Gross, Y. (2020). Erikson's stages of psychosocial development. The Wiley Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences: Models and Theories, 179-184.
Juengst, S. B., Erler, K. S., Neumann, D., Kew, C. L. N., Goldin, Y., O'Neil-Pirozzi, T. M., … & Dijkers, M. (2022). Participation importance and satisfaction across the lifespan: A traumatic brain injury model systems study. Rehabilitation Psychology, 67(3), 344.
Zastrow, C., Kirst-Ashman, K. K., & Hessenauer, S. L. (2019). Empowerment series: Understanding human behavior and the social environment. Cengage Learning.
