Topic:Human Behavior in the Social Environment
Subject:Other
Volume: 15 pages
Type: Other
Format: APA
Description
Part 1
GERONTOLOGY PAPER COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS
The purpose of the paper is to interview two different older adults (ethnically, racially, or culturally) and make a comparative analysis of how each experience his/her journey with regards to the biopsychosocial perspective in the context of their lives.
These two people cannot be related to you. You must interview each individual for at least an hour. Treat this as an open-ended interview allowing time for the person to tell his/her story. Use solid references when appropriate throughout the paper.
1. Describe the life stage you have chosen and include the biopsychosocial developmental tasks of that life stage as outlined in your textbook and course discussions. Add additional reference materials on human development (especially as it applies to the specific culture of the individuals you interviewed) and other sources as needed to develop your paper.
2. Introduce the reader to the two people you interviewed by placing them into context: Discuss important demographics about the two people you interviewed such as age, residence, how you know this person, the context in which the interview occurred and the steps you took to protect their confidentiality for the paper.
3. Describe and analyze in a culturally sensitive manner the physical, cognitive, moral, social (family, peers, etc.) emotional/affective, and spiritual domains of each individual: Discuss the significance of family and other close relationships. Include both healthy and not so healthy relationships relevant to your discussion.
4. Describe the cultural and social contexts in which the person lives (i.e. class, ethnicity, race, gender, sexual orientation) expounding on the strengths and resiliency drawn from that culture as well as any oppressions being experienced by the person.
5. Include a brief summary of the individual and systemic factors that have shaped the person’s life, the challenges or issues he/she currently faces and how you understand the person to be navigating those current challenges.
6. Compare and contrast differences you have observed between the two interviewees and critically analyze the significance of culture, social context, physical, cognitive and emotional aspects that may have influenced these differences.
7. At the end of this formal analysis comment on your own experience of conducting this interview and consider how your cultural lens affected your observation and analysis and the way or degree to which the interview confirmed and or challenged your prior assumptions about this life stage.
The paper should be properly cited in APA format and 8 pages (this does not include cover and reference pages). The paper will be graded based on your ability to cover the topics in depth in an integrated discussion utilizing solid organization, supporting references, and theoretical concepts to illustrate your analysis.
The following questions may be helpful in organizing your thoughts for the paper:
• Consider the theories we have explored in class that you may wish to integrate into the paper.
• Did earlier developmental stages seem to predict later functioning?
• What major life themes seem to be present? How does this person make meaning of his/her life; how do they convey a sense of self?
• How does this person balance work and intimacy now and if relevant, how did they balance them during other times in their life?
• How is she/he coping with the tasks of their developmental stage?
• If appropriate, how has this person been affected by strengths or weaknesses of their physical health?
• How does this individual currently relate to formal and informal support systems? How have they done this throughout his/her life?
• As this person speaks of the present and of the past, are strengths identified? Do you hear themes or hear examples of resilience? Where do you hear themes of resilience? Of struggle?
• How is the cultural context of this person uniquely expressed by the individual?
• How did the role of time and location help in understanding the relevance of issues reported?
• Paper 2: Complete the following 7page paper through which you will have the opportunity to explore in more depth one of the important life challenges that we have learned about in this course. Be sure to liberally incorporate material from the assigned readings into your discussion. Also use at least 6 references from the professional literature. The paper should follow APA format. As you write the paper:
• Identify a significant individual or family life challenge that we have learned about during this course. For example: Childhood trauma, bullying, illness and disability, family caregiving, adolescent substance use, death and dying, domestic violence, mental health challenges, etc. Choose something that interests you that affects older adults and that you would like to learn more about.
• Describe the “scope of the problem”. How many people are impacted by this challenge? Are some individuals, families, or groups more likely to experience this challenge or more likely to experience negative outcomes?
• Provide a sound understanding of the dynamics related to that challenge and the impact it can have on individuals and families.
• Discuss risk factors that may cause an individual or family to be more likely to experience negative outcomes. Identify risk factors at the societal, community, family, and individual levels.
• Discuss protective factors that may help the family cope with the challenge and achieve more favorable outcomes. Identify protective factors at the societal, community, family, and individual levels.
• Discuss the ways in which culture and diversity can influence and individual’s or family’s experience as they address this life challenge.
• Discuss theories related to biological, psychological, social, cultural and spiritual development across the lifespan that deepened your understanding of the challenge.
• Identify effective services, resources, programs or interventions that have been shown to be effective in helping individuals or families effectively address the challenge.
• Discuss how as a social worker you will apply what you have learned to your work with individuals, families, organizations and communities.
