Personal Change Paper
Personal Change Paper
Introduction
Things tend to change by an individual’s perceptions about it. Working in an environment requires an individual to amend the desired insights based on the experiences. For being a competent part of a large system like Child and Youth Care (CYC), the aspect of working reality entails a whole new meaning as one has to deal with the family and community altogether (Jones-Smith, 2011). It becomes essential to behave by the requirements of the working field rather than reflecting their personal motives and behaviors. In this regard, the paper intends to present the need for personal change while working in the CYC field.
Description of the Change Process
Being a part of Child and Youth Care (CYC), I find myself reluctant to the differences in cultures that I encounter while dealing with different families. It refers to being ethnocentric what I have noticed in my personality during my practices in the field. I realize that being impacted by the cultural diversities and ethnicities make me experience negative emotions more frequently while dealing with others. Therefore, there is a great sense of improvement in this non-dialectical emotional style of my personality that is going to cost me significant distress based on the nature of my job (Miyamoto & Ryff, 2011).
These aspects of my personality have nothing to do with my conscious as one is naturally associated with underlying beliefs, emotions, impulses, and feelings. In order to cope with the ethnocentric attitude of my personality, I aspire to adopt a change in me perceptions and behaviors based on the application of certain psychoanalytic models that will assist me in dealing with the cultural diversities in the field of CYC.
Working in the CYC field demands the personnel to be well informed about the life space as it is entirely different from the traditional social work activities. It carries the involvement of different cultures that involves the personal interactions with children and their families having a different point of views. Therefore, being ethnocentric has adverse impacts on my professional life that requires change.
According to the Freud’s psychoanalytical theory, an individual’s behavior towards others makes clear the true account of his motivation. A person has to treat his mind as an iceberg in order to treat his unconsciousness consciously. The rejection of the existing cultures other than the one I belong is related to the structure model of mind that includes Id, ego, and superego. My attitude towards the culturally diverse people tends to satisfy my basic instincts that are in accordance with the idea of Miyamoto & Ryff, (2011) as I belong to the non-dialectical emotional sector.
Besides the cognitive theory of personality also serves as a support to my change process as it stresses the shaping of personality based on the correlation of innate disposition and the environmental factors (Jones-Smith, 2011). The situational analysis demands the necessity of response in terms of cognitive, motivational, emotional, and behavioral representations. The personality attributes require to be modeled as these are greatly impacted by the interpersonal strategies constructed on the basis of the environment.
Personality is something that facilitates the attribute of flexibility based on the life experiences and the cultural background of the families (Fulcher, 1998). It entails greater involvement of an individual’s negative perceptions and predictions prior to certain events. Perceptions tend to result in labeling certain misconceptions based on the identity or morality. The change process requires to be free of the catastrophizing which means that the ethnocentric behavior of my personality should not be exaggerated (Jones-Smith, 2011). Therefore, cognitive therapy favors the elimination of biases in the perceptions and behaviors of the clients, yielding optimal functioning.
Consequently, the aspect of social constructivism best describes the psychoanalytical approach to dealing with the behavioral problems associated with the cultural differences. For attaining maximum benefits of the social constructivism, multicultural perspective is going to support significantly (Garfat, 2003; Jones-Smith, 2011). In this regard, the therapy of self-psychology seems best as the therapist belongs to a different culture that assists the client in coping with the ethnocentric attitudes. The aspects of cultural transference and cultural counter-transference that are faced in the field of CYC demands both the individuals and the therapists to be conscious.
Cohesive self-needs to be developed along with the denial of cultural differences among the families and the personnel of the Child and Youth Care field (Tao, Owen, Pace, & Imel, 2015). Once the ethnocentric individual survives through the cultural diversities even with the therapists involved in the process, it gets easier to gain insights on the cultural dimensions of the workplace. The effectiveness of cross-cultural relations affects the job performance of the individuals as the families involved feel satisfied with the responses and attitudes of the workers at CYC.
Besides, the collaboration of strength-based approach along with teleology tends to develop the process of individuation of the self (Brinkerhoff, Ortega, & Weitz, 2013). Based on this approach, the client is capable of constructing objective and reflexive experiences of dealing with the cultural diversities (Kouri, 2010). More specifically, it involves the aspect of psychic reality that is modified through the perspectives of the experts focusing on the element of meaning-making in the relations of the individuals.
Integration
Such ethnocentricity mainly exists because western approaches highly dominate the field. Non-western approaches are usually not deemed highly influential in the effectiveness of psychotherapy. However, therapists cannot abandon their belief, and values while carrying out their tasks. Therefore, if I change myself, I will improve in terms of effectiveness in my tasks as well as my career. It is vital that I alter my beliefs and notions regarding people with different ethnicities as it has influenced my behavior and ultimately lead towards my ethnocentric attitude.
In order to change by ethnocentric attitude and behavior, I carried out interviews with individuals who belonged to diverse ethnic backgrounds and discovered their perspective of being victims of ethnocentricity. The opinions of the interviewees matched those which were stated in “Essentials of Sociology,” which implied that ethnocentricity contributes as a hindrance to the communication between different people and often leads to misinterpretation (Brinkerhoff, Ortega, & Weitz, 2013). The interviewees also implied that the biased attitudes are worsened because of this miscommunication and misinterpretation among individuals from two different backgrounds. Therefore, I intend to pay special attention to my communication with such individuals to ensure that there is a minimum misinterpretation. In this manner, I will be able to reduce ethnocentricity in myself as well as the individual with whom I interact.
Perhaps it would be useful for me to apply behavior theory notes on myself as the theory includes conditioning with the help of different theories presented by pioneers in the field of behavioral conditioning. Since Watson, Pavlov, and Skinner suggest that change can be established with the help of alteration of one’s behavior. Conscious alteration of my behavior will lead to my ultimate behavioral conditioning. I can also attribute my ethnocentric attitude towards the social constructionism and utilize the theories in order to change my attitude. Since social constructionism claims that macrolinguistic and social structures frame an individual’s social and psychological life, therefore, I can increase my exposure to individuals with a more diverse background. Increased exposure to diverse individuals will increase my understanding of the different ethnicities and as a result, I will become more tolerant and accepting of such individuals that will help me in moving about in the society. Such actions may contribute to the significant reduction of my ethnocentric attitude.
In terms of other sources of information, an Australian survey found that attitudes can be formed on the basis of a dynamic and social matter which related to an individual’s opportunity, gender, education and social position (Furze, Savy, Brym, & Lie, 2011). Therefore, I can understand that my gender, education, and social position might have influenced my understanding of society and the role of different ethnicities in it. In order to improve myself, and will integrate change into my mental and physical attitude, I can pay attention to the role of such contributors and be wary of their possible influence on my attitude. I have also noticed from personal experiences that our society is highly influenced by ethnocentric jokes that degrade other cultures and subcultures and even religion and other ethnic backgrounds. The modern generation frequently makes jokes on account of ethnic or racial differences which may or may not be highly offensive. In either case, these jokes have contributed to the impressions that were created in my mind as well as in other individuals. In this regard, it would be suitable if I refrained from narrating such jokes or encouraging their usage to my friends and other social structures. Integration of conscious refrain regarding jokes and insults based on ethnocentricity will contribute to my reconditioning, which will lead me to less ethnocentric thoughts and practices.
Application
Knowledge is an aspect that is instilled within personal systems of beliefs and can be observed positioned within a social context associated with the dominance of ethnocentric attitudes and values (Kouri, 2010). In addition to this, the difference in responsive relationships is considered as an opportunity through which connection and learning more about human diversity can be facilitated. Being a part of the relatively young area of practice, I have gained significant motivation for articulating the aspects I have learned through social constructivism and cognitive behavior theory. I understand the need of inquiring and practices of responsible attitudes is of great importance as the area of CYC through which I can understand the dominant discourses underpinned by my cultural beliefs.
I have learned that the articulation of my epistemological stance can alter the development of an in-depth viewpoint of practice which in turn can also alter the development of the field. After integration of the learnings as mentioned above into my practices, I have enhanced my ability to explore several trends related to the discourse of self. I believe that integration of cognitive behavior theory into my personal practice framework is equivalent to some aspects including metaphors, unstable narratives, as well as endeavoring for scholarly practice.
Moreover, the enhancement of communication skills has assisted me in the development of a level of understanding through which I have gained the information about other cultures and practices performed by people. By emphasizing on my actions, I have institutionalized my ways of talking. According to Fulcher (1998), culture is responsible for creating psychological authenticities alongside interpreting specific discourses and disseminating opportunities for reconstructing those discourses.
There is a claim interwoven by the cultural knowledge which results in the internalization and reproduction of social interactions and aligns truths with living actions of discursive nature (Miyamoto & Ryff, 2011). These actions are situated within interpersonal relationships, and alternative reality constructions are subjugated in the light of speaking practices that carried out at an interpersonal level (Furze, Savy, Brym, & Lie, 2011).
In order to incorporate the mentioned characteristics in my CYC practices, I have embedded a diagnostic category for obtaining knowledge about the meaning of narrative or truth in terms of the behavior of a large number of children. I experienced that by working with children and their families requires the establishment of a space that is underpinned with significant security in which a child can have his say. In this regard, I have decided to overcome this challenge by modifying my personality and by becoming more open and curious for assisting each and every child in the discovery of unique ways for expressing their voice.
I found it possible to explore a wondrous and astounding world portrayed by the children of the CYC, which has limitless promises. In this context, my experience as a CYC worker has preceded my theoretical information. There are significant chances for exploring a passion for helping, having the patient temperament, as well as developmental theories (Garfat, 2003). Being a child and youth care worker, I am now able to utilize daily life events while working with children and my scope of treating children has been slowly expanded for encompassing families.
In this transition, I have learned some of the most poignant characteristics as they are of great importance for articulating cross references between the selected theory and the people-centered practices. At this point in my career, these aspects are mainly germane as they surface in accordance with my past experiences, my present circumstances, and the person I have become after attaining adequate knowledge. The knowledge is related to lifelong learning. Of course, my information about these characteristics is limited in terms of current awareness. However, by aligning everything around me in the learning process, I can further enhance my concept to our profession.
References
Brinkerhoff, D. B., Ortega, S. T., & Weitz, R. (2013). Essentials of Sociology. Mason: Cengage Learning.
Fulcher, L. C. (1998). Acknowledging culture in child and youth care practice. Social Work Education, 17 (3), 321-338.
Furze, B., Savy, P., Brym, R. J., & Lie, J. (2011). Sociology in Today's World. South Melbourne, Vic.: Cengage Learning.
Garfat, T. (2003). A child and youth care approach to working with families (Vol. 25, No. 1-2). New York: Routledge.
Jones-Smith, E. (2011). Theories of Counseling and Psychotherapy: An Integrative Approach. London: SAGE Publications, Inc.
Kouri, S. (2010). Claiming the self. International Journal of Child, Youth and Family Studies, 1 (3/4), 227-243.
Miyamoto, Y., & Ryff, C. D. (2011). Cultural differences in the dialectical and non-dialectical emotional styles and their implications for health. Cognition and Emotion, 25 (1), 22-39.
Tao, K. W., Owen, J., Pace, B. T., & Imel, Z. E. (2015). A meta-analysis of multicultural competencies and psychotherapy process and outcome. Journal of counseling psychology, 62 (3), 337.
