Assignment Task: Answer these responses with thoughtful, thorough, and well grounded feedback
1. I am currently doing my field placement in a housing community at a family support center. I have only been there for less than a week, so I am still learning about the structure. This organization is very protective of using its' name because the community has overcome an abundance of violence to become what it is today. While this community is poverty-stricken, the community has worked with the city of Pittsburgh and the Housing Authority of Pittsburgh to create its' own police force, who operate under the City of Pittsburgh. The community once had 5 entrances, which left the community vulnerable to drive-by shootings. At one point, the community only had 126 vehicles registered to the residents, but as the city kept track, over 3,000 vehicles accessed this community per day. At one point in the 1990's, emergency and utility services would not enter the community because of the drug trafficking and gun violence.
Leaders in the community worked with the city to enforce the closing of three of the five streets. Blockades have been put up, and guards sit at two booths to welcome people into the community and to check identification cards. It only works if the guards are checking each vehicle. I have been stopped once out of 5 days, and asked to show my ID. They are getting to know me and my schedule, and maybe they just recognize me now.
I have enjoyed learning the history of this community and wish the world could see the light it has to offer. Because of the violence, the community was crying for help and the government listened. It has taken decades for this community to become a safer place to live.
I saw the bureaucracy on my first day when I noticed there are two separate communities living in this housing community. The housing authority attempts to keep people from the same countries, who have immigrated to Pittsburgh, together in the same community. Not only do immigrants receive a few extra services from government programs, but there are grants in place specifically for immigrant people living in the community. This creates a sense of "favoritism," at times when the people who have lived in this community for years do not make livable wages to support their families and access food programs monthly to feed their families. A community newsletter is written every month. Personal and community achievements are touched upon, and rather than celebrate each other's successes, a few community members express jealousy in ways that are juvenile. The staff are consistent with their boundaries with community members,
At this point, the center is working toward unity for all people in the community and to embrace the different traditions while celebrating each other's successes, regardless of where they come from. The structure of the center is small, and three employees serve 80-100 families a month. The staff plans functions around religious and cultural holidays, they support every person who comes to the center equally. Community and individual empowerment are top priorities for this organization, and this has supported the center for decades. Slow-paced gentrification has been beneficial to the people of the community, however I wish more services were provided to pull these families out of poverty.
2.The human service organization with which I am the most familiar with and will be referring to in this post is one in which I am currently employed. The organization is a rehabilitative residential facility for at-risk teenage girls that have most often endured significant neglect or trauma throughout their lives. The girls that I work with are court-ordered by CYS, CYF or JPO due to a wide range of delinquency typically as a result of their troubling life experiences. The mission of the organization is to provide an array of services through a trauma-informed approach to offer them an opportunity to redirect their lives from substance abuse and other various self-destructive behaviors. Due to the significant focus on trauma-informed treatment, although involved in numerous manners of delinquency, these clients are offered structure while allowing them the freedom to express themselves, find direction and form connections. The largest value of this organization is to provide the kids the freedom to be kids in ways that most of them did not get the privilege of experiencing through positive activities, outings and formation of interpersonal relationships. My workplace provides several aspects of services; education, clinical mental health, substance abuse counseling and vocational training. All of these aspects work in cohesive collaboration with one another. Specifically, the aspect of the organization that I work in is substance abuse counseling. As substance abuse counselors, we not only provide individual and group sessions, we are also simultaneously in contact with all of the girls within the program throughout the duration of our shift which enables positive connections to be formed which results in better rapport and effectiveness of treatment. In applying control theory to my observations, the organization emphasizes these values of human relationships, values, goals and behavioral/social norms to promote pro-social values and ultimately deter the clients from delinquency. In order to accomplish this, the trauma-informed approach and values are significantly stressed and on sole reliance of the staff working directly with these at-risk youth.
3. I came into this week with a negative view of psychodynamic practice, especially since I tend to agree with much of the criticisms levied against it. Particularly that it wasn't backed up by much evidence, ignores many of the social causes to problems, and has serious cultural blindspots. What really surprised me this week was the various theories and practices that have developed from it that are backed up. Particularly attachment theory.
However, I did find myself recognizing using many of the techniques in my day to day practice. Emotional engagement, managing emotions, and appropriate self disclosure are all tools in my toolkit. These strategies all help build empathy and a good working relationship with the people I work with. However, what might have been the most helpful is evaluation of previous interventions, as it can be extremely harmful to try the same thing over and over again or even pushing through with a plan that isn't working.
As mentioned in the texts, psychodynamic interventions and therapies don't work with clients that can struggle to express themselves, or even may not be comfortable doing so. It's something that does have its limits that we most consider.
4. Overall, psychoanalytic therapies offer valuable insights into the workings of the human mind and behavior, drawing attention to unconscious processes and early life experiences that shape individuals' thoughts, emotions, and actions. I am intrigued by the resemblance between psychodynamic social work ideas about the structure of the mind (Payne, 2016, p.104) and Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory (I remember having this chart etched into my brain during undergrad), both of which emphasize the complex interplay between internal and external factors in shaping human development.
When working with people dealing with addiction, parts of psychodynamic therapies can be helpful. For example, exploring hidden conflicts, past traumas, and deep emotions through techniques like free association and dream analysis can help us understand why addictive behaviors happen. These approaches can also help people become more aware of themselves and why they use substances. I'd consider using psychodynamic methods with clients who are ready to look into their psychological issues and do some self-reflection. This might be especially helpful for clients with a history of trauma or emotional problems contributing to their addiction. But I'd also use other therapies like cognitive-behavioral therapy and motivational interviewing to address all aspects of addiction and support clients fully.
However, psychodynamic therapies have their limits when it comes to addiction treatment. Some cultural assumptions in psychodynamic theories might not consider how cultural factors like norms and inequalities affect addiction. Also, focusing too much on past experiences might overlook how present-day stress and environment play a role in addiction.
5. When reading about psychoanalytic theory in our text I find it's a theory that is very hard for me to follow. When talking about Freud and his research of id, ego and super ego and how what everyone does is deeply rooted in their brain. His theory gets more intense when he begins to talk about dreams and sex. I do think that we have come a far way in psychoanalytic theory and one great thing that has come out of this theory is the attachment theory I think having a background in this theory we as social workers are better able to understand children. When looking at psychoanalytic theory I think that this theory is best used in complex situations to really examine the brain and drives of the person. This maybe helpful with children who may not speak as well as complex mental health disorders to better understand the meaning of their behaviors and how their brains may respond to different treatments. I enjoyed learning about how this theory was helpful when working with shell shock individuals. And how this was a huge start to talk about treatment in mental health and research. I also can see why this theory is not currently popular in the social work field. I find Freud very hard to understand and follow and some of the early theorist of this psychoanalytic also hard to understand.