Psychology

Research Questions
The research attempted to answer four main questions What kind of information concerning the patients state and treatment do family members and older patients ask nurses and physicians in the emergency department To what extent do older patients and families comprehend the information provided by the emergency department Do older patients and members families get satisfied with the information they receive from the staff in emergency department What is the difference between older patients and family members preferences for, understanding of, and satisfaction with, the information supplied to them by the emergency departments staff (Majerovitz, 1997)

Method of Study
The study used descriptive research method to examine the two samples which comprised of 71 older patients and 32 family members using semi structured interviews as the basic research instruments. The two samples were drawn from the emergency department of a suburban teaching hospital which is associated to a school of medicine. The research measured four different kinds of variables. The variables included communication between older patients and their family members with the staff in the emergency department, type of information provided by the emergency department staff, patients and family members understanding of information provided, the level of satisfaction of information and the difference between the patients and family members preferences to, understanding of and satisfaction with the information provided by the emergency department staff (Majerovitz, 1997). In assessing whether the samples understood the information provided by the emergency department, the research used two coders which were rated according to the samples responses to open-ended questions, using defined coding criteria. The system of coding yielded inter-rater reliability Inter reliability refers to the degree to which coders or raters agree. It is used to address stability of the rating system. In this study it was applied in measuring the consistency of the raters in the coding criteria. The following raters were utilized in the coding criteria

Complete understanding For complete understanding, responses were supposed to comprise of two elements coded as being complete. The first element referred to accurate knowledge of diagnosis, treatment or test expressed in technical or lay terms. The second element was the presence of at least one piece of extra information demonstrating an understanding of the information.

Partial understanding Responses were coded as partial understanding when they included names of the tests, treatments or conditionsin technical or lay termswithout explanatory information.

Little understanding The coding system considered a response as little understanding when information provided lacked specific details in relation to the treatment, test, condition or diagnosis (Majerovitz, 1997).

Findings of the research
Most of the family members desired to have more access and information regarding the patients. However, they do not satisfactorily understand the information offered from the emergency department. Patients wanted to be actively involved in their medical care and desired to be always informed about their condition while being attended in the emergency department. Despite this fact, most of the older patients chosen for this study indicated very little understanding of their treatment or condition. This was evident because majority of the older patients did not complain about the inadequacy of the information provided by the staff that attended them in the emergency department and were quite reluctant to give the specific complaints regarding the kind of information they were given because they did not understand what it meant. It was also found out that even though in most cases the older patients understanding of their medical condition was vague, they believed that they knew and understood what was happening to them (Majerovitz, 1997).

Just like the older patients, family members also were also found to have been unsatisfied with the information they received concerning their patients. However, unlike the older patients, family members were expressed their dissatisfaction more willingly and explain their complaints more specifically. The older patients assertiveness could not be attributed to age difference between them and their families because the average age of the interviewed family members was 61 years therefore, there was negligible age difference between the two (Majerovitz, 1997).

Internal and external validity of the study
The study concludes that there are explicit communication problems among older patients, their families and the physicians. This research lacks both internal and external validity. First, the sample may not have been exactly representative and adequate for making conclusions because it excluded the non-English speakers as well as patients with dementia (Majerovitz, 1997). These are the groups that were likely to offer the more responses regarding the communication problems they encountered which would have made the inferences of the study more externally valid. Again, interviews alone were not sufficient research instruments. Other instruments such as observations would have improved the internal validity of inferences. This is because, by using observation, the researcher would have eliminated the threads to validity such as the accurateness of data collected from the sample. On external validity, the inferences of this study cannot be relied upon because the study was conducted in a sub- urban region, with only one emergency department (Majerovitz, 1997). However, different communication issues exist in different geographical locations.

The selected sample was also not valid because it comprised of middle case and white respondents from a sub- urban region. This implies that the findings from this sample cannot be generalized beyond the chosen population. However, the research design improved the validity of the research inferences in that the study utilized descriptive design which best aids in explaining given conditions using large many interviews and subjects.

Validity and reliability measures
Validity is the degree to which the research instruments, samples and design are able to accurately measure what they were aimed at measuring. Reliability on the other hand, refers to the consistency and accuracy of the results of a study. This implies that if the same question is asked to a respondent, heshe should give the same answer In the case of this study, reliability is measured in terms of inter-rater reliability. The raters applied in the study were able to rate the interviewee in the same way, thus giving credit to the reliability of the study. The authors of this study have specified on the validity of their study in terms of the lack of enough instruments on the study (us of interviews only), the geographical limitations of the study and the lack of proper timing for data collection.

Problems with reliability and validity
The major problem with the validity of the inferences made on this study basically lies on the fact that for the findings of a study to be valid, they must be universally applicable. This implies that even if the research is conducted in a different place, the same findings would be made. However, due to the fact that the sample of the study was not valid because it involved only white and middle class respondents from only one a sub urban hospital, then the findings are not valid.

There are a number of methods that can be used to conduct researches in psychology. These methods have been discussed in detail hereafter. The method adopted in research depend the field of psychology and the problem in question.

We will assume a case of depression and show how research methods can be used to come up with conclusions.

Naturalistic Observation  This method involves observation of the behavior in its natural settings. Operational definition of depression in this state will be a state a state of low mood and aversion to activity.

Naturalistic observation will in this case involve observing individuals who are suspected of being depressed and evaluate how their behavior is different from a conventionally agreed normal state.
 
b) Co-relational  This study finds involves comparing two traits and in this case one trait would be the temperament of the individual suspected of being depressed before and after the diagnosis. It can also be a comparison between an individual thought to be depressed and one who is normal.
A positive correlation would indicate similarity and logic in the temperaments of the two individuals while a negative correlation would indicate disparity in the temperaments of the two individuals.

c) Experimental  involves having an independent variable and treating two or more groups of subjects differently with respect to the independent variable.

The independent variables (IV) are the individuals thought to be normal, while the dependent variable (DV) is the individual suspected of depression.

is the duration taken to identify colours. The operational definition of breastfed  babies aged one who have been breast fed for one year. Operational definition of formula fed - babies aged one who have been formula fed for one year. The operational definition of identifying colours- would be to pick the correct coloured toy when shown the colour wanted. The experiment can be conducted in a laboratory. We have to seek permission of parents in a hospital and select newborn babies who can be breastfed and those who can be formula fed and from this the babies required for the experiment will be chosen. There will be two different groups, one with twenty mothers who will be only breastfeeding their babies for one year and another group with twenty mothers who will be only formula feeding their babies for one year. The mothers who are breastfeeding will be having a same diet plan and the mothers who are formula feeding will use the same formula powder. After one year, the breastfed babies and formula fed babies will be placed in two different rooms and will be shown a colour on a screen, for example blue, then the baby will be urged to pick up a toy that is blue in colour. The duration taken for each baby to identify the correct coloured toy will be recorded. The possible results of the experiment may show that babies who have been breastfed may have taken a shorter time to identify the wanted colour when compared to babies who have been formula fed. The results could also be vice versa or having not much difference in the comparison.

d) Case Study  This involves a thorough and in depth study of the level of intelligence of a particular subject , as in this case the subjects would be a sibling  who has been breastfed for one year and a sibling who has been formula fed year. Thus, the mother should have at least two children, one being breastfed and another being formula fed. One important thing to keep in mind is the siblings should have a similar diet plan as they are growing. The study may involve observing the siblings intelligence level at each stage of their lives. For example at age two, how many alphabets can the siblings identify The intelligences tested can also be based on multiple intelligences and each task assigned to the siblings must be the same. The study may be conducted till they reach the age of seven and a final written test comprising of mathematical and language based questions  can be done to complete the study and compare the results. Possible results the sibling who was breastfed might be stronger in terms of kinestatic intelligence as compared to the sibling who was formula fed.

e) Survey method  A method used to pose questions to a large population in order to get results based on the hypothesis. For this case, it may be possible to conduct a survey of mothers who have breastfed and mothers who have formula fed and seek their responses to questions in relation to the duration they have breastfedformula fed and their childs intelligence level. The questions could be based on multiple intelligences, for example At which age did your child manage to say all the alphabets in the alphabet  When did your child first tried to read  When did you child first cycled The survey could also be done in an interview format with parents to know in depth about the differences between a breastfed child and a formula fed child. The survey may take into consideration of the age of the mothers, the children and the mothers health habits and other factors that may affect breastfeeding and formula feeding.

My Stand
It was interesting to come up with different research strategies based on the five methods asked in this TMA. Lets look at the five different methods in depth, the first being naturalistic observation, for the hypothesis mentioned, this method has a strong point of being able to observe the childrenbabies in their natural setting let it be home or school, somewhere the childrenbabies are familiar of but it would not be an ideal one simply because no interference is allowed thus little or no control is allowed. All we have to do is to just observe the behaviour of the children and there may be no chance of altering their diet plan. The children may also behave more appropriately assuming that someone is observing them. The results may also be based on personal judgement and biasness hence the results that come out of this method may not be accurate. The correlational method has its advantage of being able to control the duration of the babies being breastfed but the biggest disadvantage would be the other variable where only one testactivity can be done to see the relationship between the two variables. This is where defining intelligence would be hard as we can categorize intelligence into multiple intelligences. And it is difficult to distinguish the cause and effect of a correlational study. It may not be necessarily true that a child who may be breastfed may achieve more correct answers as the element of multiple intelligence is missing and the test maybe only using onetwo of the multiple intelligences.

The survey method is a good method to get a mass response from many mothers and a lot of data can be collected to compare the results but the results may not be very accurate as parents may not choose to answer the questions truthfully as they may not want to condemn their own children. Lacking truth itself may cause the results to be inaccurate. The case study method has the strength of allowing the subject to be studied in depth, in this way the subject may be clearly studied for all the different type of intelligences as they grow up and then be compared. Since the subjects are siblings, it makes it more accurate as intelligence can also be inherited. The weakness would be to find the appropriate subject and the duration taken to complete the study. The final method which is the experimental method allows us to take control of the whole study, the strength is that we can have two controlled groups, one breast fed and one formula fed and the duration can be fixed. The diet, health habits and other factors can be totally controlled which may give a more accurate result. One weakness would be the setting of the experiment, it is no longer natural and this may hinder the behaviour or thinking skills of the subject involved. But the cause and effect of the experiment can be clearly seen as the variables are controlled. In my opinion, the experiment method would be most appropriate as the weaknesses can be corrected such as creating a more natural environment is possible. The strength of being able to clearly focus on two groups of equal sample and control the mothers and childrens intake of food and their health habits allows for powerful observations to be done when the experiment is being conducted. The duration taken for the baby to identify the colour is crucial as well as the babys behaviour can also be observed. The results on whether breastfed babies are more intelligent than formula fed babies can be closely derived from an experimental method.

Cognitive Psychology

Question 1
Perhaps the three most influential tenets in my field of specialization in psychology would be an integrative combination of structuralism, functionalism and associativism. From these major tenets emerged various theories of psychology, most notably the behaviorism movement which ultimately led to the birth of cognitive psychology as a science. They have encompassing influences not only in my field but also in various specializations in psychology.

Structuralism, functionalism and associativism are still the underlying schools of thought of many theories.  These are both still widely used in neuroscience which is of significance to clinicians nowadays due to findings that implicate malfunctions or damage in parts of the brain that cause psychopathologies  that is, for organic disorders. Functionalism also plays a big role especially in cognitive neuroscience as it attempts to explain the processes by which all functions of the central nervous system are done. Theories or findings in cognitive neuroscience are primarily developed around structuralism and functionalism in identifying parts of the brain and their respective functions.

In cognitive neuroscience, for instance, where we get information about organic psychological or mental conditions and functionality, structuralism still has its influences especially in checking for pathologies and what areas of the brain are adversely damaged. This in turn would guide what treatment or intervention to use, depending on which areas of the brain are damaged. Structuralism is still apparent in theories that attempt to simplify things by explaining it according to its significant partitions  be it real or conceptual ones. Functionalism complements it especially in examining the physiological or conceptual processes of the different parts of the central nervous system.

Focusing on my field, it is imperative that I be guided in my practice with various studies, findings, new theories or principles that would point or suggest a fitting intervention or treatment to use. Updates from where I take useful information include research or results of studies in neuroscience, cognitive psychology, developmental or child psychology among others. Even in assessing clients, the various theories we use like theories of personality and psychological theories that explain psychological conditions are largely cushioned by structuralism, functionalism and associativism. Freuds theory of personality for instance, speaks of different structures of personality, each one having a distinct function for maintaining homeostasis. More recent theories like attachment theories have at its seat, an associativist view of a psychological phenomenon, attachment problem.

To achieve my ultimate goal as a practitioner  which is to maximize the benefit of interventions to be used to the best interest of the client, I have to approach clients issues using a holistic view. This means that I need to be updated with recent findings in areas like cognitive psychology, social or cultural psychology, biopsychology, developmental or child psychology as well as various other fields which may be significant for helping a particular client.

With cognitive psychology as one of the best contributor to the clinical practice, its theories have helped the practice achieve great lengths, especially in psychological assessment and interventions. Keys to this are perception, memory, attention and consciousness, cognitive neuroscience and mental representation and data manipulation. For cognitive neuroscience as key to the three tenets I have already mentioned why.

Out of the seven underlying themes in cognitive psychology, I believe cognitive neuroscience, memory, and mental representation or data manipulation evolved from either from the structuralism, functionalism or associativism schools of thought.

In theories of memory, cognitive psychologists propose various models. One traditional model suggests that the structure of memory is composed of three stores, namely the sensory store which holds small amounts of information for a short period, the short  term store which contains limited amounts of data, also for brief periods but longer than that of the sensory store while the long term store contains huge knowledge and keeps it indefinitely. The other theories do not quite differ significantly in that it also proposes that memory is composed of recent, short  term as well as long  term memory. However, one that is commonly adhered to by psychologists today is the alternative model, that there is a working memory which is composed of the three stores sensory, short  term and long  term. However, it is so called working memory because it contains data from all stores that has recently been activated (Sternberg 2006).

Considerable amounts of theories have sprung up from research or studies aimed at examining various hypothesis or to come up with an answer to what seems to be just a body of theories most of which have not actually been accepted or verified as guiding principles or truths.
In order to be able to assess if such theories adhered to are sound, practitioners must therefore keep abreast with results of studies or research and other forms of examination.

In clinical practice, the best tool for verifying whether indeed the theories adhered to are sound, are the clients themselves. It can be gathered by self  reports, interviews, therapy sessions, behavioral observations, even the progression of symptoms during the course of treatment is a source of information to validate theory  grounded inferences. A good source for this (practice  based evidence) is also the research papers of other practitioners in the field.

For instance, taking the associativists templates theory of memory as an example, it suggests that the mind processes scene or visual information faster once a template has already been there  or if traces of the same scene appear in ones memory, especially so if it is associated with a particular affect. Thus, that there occurs automaticity in recall of the affect associated with the similar template or with the present scene that has reached a subjects senses. A study however, conducted by Nummenmaa et. al. (2010) reveals otherwise. It was found that semantic processing of visual scenes is faster than their affective processing and that semantic categorization precedes affective evaluation.

Although affective valence can be extracted from minimal visual input, its encoding does not hold primacy over semantic recognition. The biases that emotional content exerts over cognitive processes (for example, on selective visual attention) would occur after semantic recognition of scene objects. Thus, affective analysis is contingent on attentive object identification. Nevertheless, the present results do not undermine the claims that affective information is prioritized over nonemotional information by the cognitive system. Rather, the present study qualifies this claim by suggesting that the prioritization of affective information must occur after semantic processing of visual information, which can lead to a perceptual and attentional bias toward affective scenes (Nummenmaa, et. al. 2010).

In another area, cognitive neuroscience, practitioners handling cases of post  traumatic stress disorder, other anxiety disorders, depression, eating disorders, and psychosis frequently report of clients repeated visual intrusions corresponding to a small number of real or imaginary events, usually extremely vivid, detailed, and with highly distressing content (Brewin et. al. 2010). The same phenomenon was often labeled as hallucinations, memory intrusions, flashbacks and often patients ended up with a variety of possible reasons for it, and forms of treatment.

In a recent study however, it was found that both memory and imagery appear to rely on common networks involving medial prefrontal regions, posterior regions in the medial and lateral parietal cortices, the lateral temporal cortex, and the medial temporal lobe (Brewin et. al. 2010). Thus previous theoretical model was replaced after evidence from cognitive psychology and neuroscience implies distinct neural bases to abstract, flexible, contextualized representations and to inflexible, sensory-bound representations. We revise our previous dual representation theory of posttraumatic stress disorder to place it within a neural systems model of healthy memory and imagery. The revised model is used to explain how the different types of distressing visual intrusions associated with clinical disorders arise, in terms of the need for correct interaction between the neural systems supporting S-reps and C-reps via visuospatial working memory (Brewin et. al. 2010).

These major updates and changes in models warn clinical practitioners to approach every treatment plan or intervention with caution because apparently, as is evident by the study earlier presented, some theories are as good as the last study that developed it. Thus, it is wiser for the profession and beneficial to the clients well  being that constant update and validation be taken to allow immediate reversals of prior inferences or diagnoses and keep or manage the damage at the least possible level.

Though I adhere to the structuralism, functionalism and associativism as influential tenets underlying theories in cognitive psychology, it would not be wise to be espoused to a particular inference as it would cause more harm than good to the clients welfare.

Question 2
There are common ethical concerns in the clinical psychology practice namely exploitative relationships, beneficence and nonmaleficence as well as informed consent. Practitioners may consciously or unconsciously exploit relationships with clients in the arrangements fees, sexual relationships or intimacies with patients, patients relatives or friends of the clients whom the therapist met in the course of the therapeutic treatment  even after the therapeutic treatment is concluded. There is a window period for this though however, any relationships outside the therapeutic relationship with the client, supervisees, trainees and their friends or relatives are generally unethical.

To avoid this, practitioners must not allow multiple relationships to exist in her therapeutic relationships with clients. It is not only disruptive to the program, it may also add to the distress or cause it during the course of the therapy. Thus, a psychologist should consider it an imperative to discuss issues about creating boundaries even from the start of the process.

On the issue of informed consent, a clients right to confidentiality is foregone where his  her as well as other peoples lives or persons are under threat of being hurt. For instance, when there is a threat of suicide (client) or assault (other people), the therapist is duty bound to disclose the matter in the interest of everyones safety. The clients right here is violated in cases when his  records or case notes are used for research purposes without consent and may therefore file a complaint to correct the offense.
Another form of violating this is when the therapist fails to protect or prevent access to files about the clients case. The advent of technology has made note  taking and recording very convenient of therapists but it is not without disadvantages. For instance, when record  keeping of the therapist is done via electronic data processing and another person was able to access a clients file (virtually or physically), the incidence of failure to prevent access to the file and taking extra steps like implementing controls (physical and technological) to disallow unauthorized viewing of a clients records constitutes an offense.

For beneficence and nonmaleficence, it is the therapists duty to ensure that the client receives utmost care and protection of his  her well  being with the therapist taking initiatives to ensure the clients utmost interest is protected. In assessing a client for instance, the therapist does not just rely on available data to complete the assessment on time. It is not so much as getting the job done but more for arriving at an accurate diagnosis to guide treatment and therefore prevent the client from harmful effects interventions that were guided by incorrect inferences, he  she can prevent the adverse effects of possible reversal of diagnosis by collaborating with other professionals in the field to validate or get inter  rater reliability of her assessment. When in doubt therefore, the decision factor to choose must be that which is most beneficial to the client in the present and the long  run.

The interest of beneficence and nonmaleficence is also not honored when a therapist does not disclose to the client other alternative courses of treatment which may be applicable to the clients case. There is a good number of alternative treatment for psychological disorders and nowadays, disclosure of such seem to be low. Others attribute it to the fact that there are no economic incentives involved in the disclosure of treatment options to the patient. Unlike when the prescribe, practitioners get incentives for extending prescriptions.

The same should be observed by researchers in the field of psychology particularly in studies involving experiments using human subjects. There are pharmaceutical companies, who, through doctors or practitioners, offer medications or treatment courses via charity. With this, they are actually conducting research to measure efficacy of a medical product.  The clients consent is gathered but for those who are in the less developed countries, clients in the lower socio  economic status often do not fully understand the extent of the consent for which they are signing. Details about possible side  effects and if the medication will on them or not are not fully disclosed to them.

In other methods of research like social immersion or naturalistic observation, psychologists conducting such studies sometimes do not realize the effect they have on the clients in the course of the study. Often this is done without the clients consent to eliminate Hawthorne effect. However, there is an impact left behind when psychologists finish and withdraw from the clients immediate or social environment so that it becomes a necessity to debrief.

There may be more cases of violations of this primary client protection in their therapeutic relationships with psychologists. But whatever the complications and when faced with a novel situation where choice is a difficulty, the breaking factor that psychologists must consider is this would it be beneficial to the client

Over the past several decades, a change has been seen in the field of psychology as interest in community psychology continues to grow internationally. This is due to the growing dissatisfaction of clinical psychologists toward traditional psychology as they observe that it focuses more on the individual and fails to consider the surrounding factors affecting the mental health of an individual.

In this paper, the concept and application of community psychology is discussed. This essay will also address other psychological and sociological concepts that affect the community psychological approach.

Part I
According to Orford (2008), community psychology can be described as a psychological approach that deals with the social context of peoples lives. In order to have a better understanding of the concept of community psychology, it is first necessary to differentiate it from traditional and mainstream psychology.

Some of the similarities between community and traditional psychology include its aim to promote human welfare, the orientation toward preventive measures, and taking a group or systems approach to understanding human behavior. One glaring difference is that community psychology is more concerned with the relationship between social systems and individual well-being in the community context.

Furthermore, Orford (2008) states in his book that community psychology is marginally different from traditional psychological approaches because of the questions it is interested in asking and finding answers to. One of the key aspects of community psychology that was mentioned in the book is its aim of finding ways to help people combat inequality and injustice. Unlike other psychological and sociological studies, it is not focused on simply analyzing power and the way it is exercised, rather it is oriented toward helping people resist oppression and the struggle to create a better world.

Another notable aspect of community psychology is its emphasis on prevention, intervention and policy change at a non-individual level, rather than focusing on personal treatment. Orford (2008) explains it further by stating that

In order to promote individual and collective health and well-being and to reduce distress and difficulties, it is necessary to promote change in the social, economic and environmental arrangements that give rise to such problems (xiii).

The field of psychology as a whole has been receiving a lot of criticism for the past several years, mostly from psychologists themselves, as they find that psychology has taken a highly individualistic route and neglecting whole domains of its legitimate subject matter. Duncan et al. (2007) posits that what gave rise to the emergence of community psychology is the dissatisfaction found in mainstream psychology, particularly its inability, neglect or disregard to adequately address the growing psychosocial needs of marginalized communities and groups. In the case of traditional psychology, it has been observed that it is geared more towards mainstream, individual-oriented models of conceptualizing and understanding human behavior.

To further illustrate how community psychology is different from traditional psychology, a comparison is provided based on several factors. In terms of theory philosophy, clinical health psychology is oriented towards the biopsychosocial model, where health is the product of a combination of factors such as biological, behavioral and social. Meanwhile, community health psychology operates under the social and economic model, which indicates that changes are needed at both individual and systems levels. In terms of values, clinical psychology focuses on the use of ethical intervention to achieve its goal of increasing or maintaining the autonomy of the individual, while community psychology values applies social action to create or increase the autonomy of disadvantaged and oppressed people. Another difference between the two is their focus as clinical psychology deals with physical illness and dysfunction, while community psychology is concerned toward physical and mental health promotion (Orford, 2008).

Another psychological theory that is closely allied with community psychology is critical psychology. Fox et al. (2009) defines it as a psychological theory that focuses on social justice and human wellbeing by advocating not just minor reform but fundamentally different social structures that can lead to it. Basically, it imagines and explores alternatives with the aim of making psychology perform better.

Orford (2008) explains it further by stating that the focus of critical psychology is the need to engage in social action. This is done by observing values such as the promotion of social justice, freedom and emancipation exposing and working to eliminate oppression and placing emphasis on the interests of the poor, oppressed and disenfranchised.

Community psychology and critical psychology are similar in that they challenged traditional and mainstream psychology assumptions and methods toward human wellbeing. Fox et al. (2009) lists several concerns related to traditional and mainstream psychology that are addressed by critical psychology. The first is that mainstream and traditional psychology focuses on the individual rather than the group and larger society, resulting in the overemphasizing of individualistic values. This perspective also hinders the realization of mutuality and community and, at the same time, strengthens unjust institutions. Another concern is that the underlying assumptions and institutional allegiances of mainstream psychology negatively affects the members of powerless and marginalized groups as it causes the facilitation of inequality and oppression. 

In order to further understand the core concepts and values of community psychology and critical psychology, let us consider the scenario below

A young Pakistani woman living in Great Britain in her early twenties is suffering from serious bouts of depression. She may even be suicidal.  She is married and has two children. Her husband, an unskilled laborer is unemployed and she, herself, has just lost her minimal wage job, perhaps due to the depression. Her husband maintains that she was a victim of racism.

Based on the scenario above, I will now discuss how traditional and community psychology practitioners will act in order to help the woman. Traditional psychologists will most likely focus on the self, illustrating the individualistic bias of psychology. Psychoanalytic theories will be applied to treat the depression of the woman, placing emphasis on the individuals personality and failing to consider the social contexts.  Basically, the psychotherapy treatment for the womans ill-health condition will be based on the idea that the individual is suffering from some disorder or defect that lends itself to individual cure or correction (Orford, 2008). Meanwhile, community psychology practitioners will focus on prevention, specifically, the general enhancement or promotion of health or well-being (15).

The community psychology prevention plan would include a wellness enhancement program designed to prevent similar cases from occurring. Community psychology would also look into the social context and implement programs that would address the living and working conditions of immigrant families and how they are coping. Interventions targeting the poor and unemployed in the community will also be the central focus.

Part II
The following is a discussion of some of the key concepts or values integral to a community psychology perspective.

Prevention deals with the identification of ways to minimize or prevent the problem from ever occurring. Rather than relying on reactionary responses, particularly on individual illness, the goal of prevention is to lessen the demand for treatment. This addresses the communitys concern for those who may otherwise not have the resources or access to such treatment.

Social justice is another core value of community psychology. It deals with the rights all persons are entitled. This is applied towards those who may be marginalized. Basically, it allows privileges in order to effect change and aims toward a more equitable allocation of resources.

Indigenous resources deals with focusing on placing value and collaborating with the expertise within a community. Indigenous people are always overlooked even though they have always existed in a community. Using them as a resource to answer the question of why their existence works and what strengths they can impart are important from a community psychology perspective.

Another key concept of community psychology is citizen participation. The idea behind this is that community members themselves are more aware of their own situation. It follows that they should be a part of the design, implementation and evaluation of any community intervention. Their expertise can have an impact on the efforts of community psychologists to effect change in the community.

These key aspects or values of community psychology can be related to the notions of social construction and power. In order to attain an effective community intervention, collaboration is needed. Social construction, which can be described as the ways in which phenomena are socially constructed, can be connected to community psychology values in that it puts into effect the efforts for social change. Society has the power to effect change and in order to bring that into realization, a sharing of power is needed which can be expressed by involving all members of a community to address and act on the concerns of the community.

These values can help community psychology practitioners in relating to the woman mentioned in the scenario earlier. Community psychologists can trace whether this is a common occurrence in the community and thus implement an effective community intervention program that will address the health and wellbeing of powerless and marginalized groups. Community psychologists can also collaborate with community members to improve the living conditions within the community thus preventing the occurrence of ill conditions among members.

The scenario discussed above shows that social factors affect the health and wellbeing of community members. Being a Pakistani woman, gender, race and social class come into play resulting in oppression and injustice. It is a community psychologists task to address these issues that affect the health of the Pakistani woman and prevent it from happening to others who find themselves in a somewhat similar position.

Part III
The aspect of area has a major influence on the health and well being of an individual. Biases on social position, gender, race, social and economic class are present in every community. An individual that is exposed to this kind of community and has experienced prejudice from any of the factors mentioned above will inevitably cause ill health on the individual. The concept of area in this case would include the neighborhood, the workplace and other venues of social interactions.

By living in Great Britain, the Pakistani woman will undoubtedly experience prejudice based on her and her familys race alone. This is due to the political and economic conflict that her homeland is experiencing with other nations. People would associate this conflict with her and her family resulting in racial prejudice and oppression. Her lack of education and skill incompetency is another mark against her. The familys social class and position is also looked upon and found wanting. All these factors takes a heavy toll on the womans health and well being resulting in the feeling of depression and the development of suicidal tendencies. The area in which she circulates has a hand in what she has become. The core values of community psychology are needed at this point in order to make the community intervention effective.

Part IV
According to Field (2008), the central thesis of the theory of social capital is that relationships matter. This means that if people work together, they can accomplish and achieve things with ease. The important factor here is to make connections with one another, and ensure that the connections remain over time. This supports the central idea of social capital which is positioning social networks as a valuable asset.

Social cohesion uses networks as a basis due to the fact that they have the capability to make people cooperate with one another for the purpose of mutual advantage. Social capital can be viewed from various perspectives, namely, sociological, economic and political.

The concept of social capital and social capital theory can be applied to the case of the Pakistani woman in the scenario above. In the scenario, it is evident that, due to the factors that were held against her, there wasnt any social connection that was made. The only connection she has formed is with her family and that is not enough. Social networks have not been formed due to the prejudice against her and her family. The social support that was supposed to have been formed from her interactions at her former workplace and also with her neighborhood is non-existent resulting in the development of ill-health conditions in the Pakistani woman. Community psychologists need to encourage the formation of social capital, particularly in communities that are culturally diverse, as part of their community intervention program.

Feminist therapy (FT) arose in the 1960s as a result of womens increasing awareness that discrimination resides in the way traditional psychology views female mental health. It was an attempt to enhance womens autonomy and it was based on the integration of psychology and feminist theory. According to this theory, women form their identity through a perspective of constantly providing care for others at the expense of their own free will and initiative. This view represents the traditional gender role, which is not biologically determined but rather socially derived. FT emphasizes the principle of equality in all aspects of human experience.  Its major tenet is that psychological difficulties arise from political and social causes, namely discriminative attitudes not only towards females but also towards ethnic, cultural, religious and sexual minorities (Landrine, 1995  Worell, 1997).

FT attempts to provide care through a novel perspective which respects the patients wishes and needs instead of rigidly meeting societal expectations according to existing racial and sexist stereotypes. The client holds a central place in the treatment setting, and is encouraged to take initiative and guide the therapeutic process. The therapist is not viewed as an authority but as an equal partner, whose task is to educate and empower the patient.  Therapists aim at demystifying the process of therapy in order to enhance clients sense of power and self-efficacy. In addition, they are particularly careful at avoiding power display in the therapy setting and may frequently use self-disclosure to restore equality and reciprocity in the therapeutic relationship (Worell, 1997).

FT supports the idea that the client knows better than anyone what is best for himher. Its main aim is to increase peoples awareness of internalized stereotypes and replace them with more realistic beliefs, to elaborate on issues of control and power and how they affect human experience and to enhance independent decision-making. Apart from gaining self-awareness and free choice, clients are also encouraged to actively participate in political and social groups, given that personal experiences are considered deeply political and personal evolution can arise only through social change (Landrine, 1995  Worell, 1997).

The vast majority of feminist therapists and clients are women. However, it is a theory that hopes to address issues concerning both genders, ignoring any societal and cultural bias. The principles of FT are fruitfully applied in the field of physical and sexual abuse, eating disorders, body image distortions and issues of somatic health and reproduction. Commonly used techniques include gender-role analysis and intervention, power analysis and intervention, bibliotherapy, assertiveness training and self-disclosure (Landrine 1995,  Worell, 1997).

FT has provided new insights on managing mental health issues through a social and cultural perspective. It has fought prejudice in the practice of psychology, by adopting an egalitarian approach, regardless of gender, race, religious affiliation or sexual orientation and it has focused on the clients individual needs, strengths and wishes. The therapeutic context enhances collaboration and reciprocity and individuals are encouraged to become active members of their society in order to produce change.
However, when placing too much value on cultural and social causes of mental disorders, there is the risk of ignoring the significance of personal factors and intrapsychic phenomena. When all psychological difficulties are considered to stem from the abuse of power and the effect of social prejudice and discrimination, then the individual fails to assume responsibility for hisher experience. In this way, true personal evolution may be sacrificed for the sake of social activism. In addition, the collaborative nature of the therapeutic process and the misuse of self-disclosure by feminist therapists may abolish professional and ethical boundaries and further damage the clients fragile psyche. Finally, this approach may prove extremely frustrating for people and cultures that place great emphasis on traditional societal roles.

Post-modern Approaches
Post-modern Approaches (PMA) evolved through the influence of post-modernism on the theory and practice of psychotherapy. Traditionally, philosophy and science have been dedicated to the conquest of the absolute truth. Post-modernism suggests that there is no such thing as objectivity and reality is constructed through language. In this view, mental illness is considered a social construct, originating from the dominating societal tendency to dichotomize and label all aspects of human experience (Boston, 2000).

PMA, which include Solution-Focused Therapy, Narrative Therapy, and Social Constructionism, are client-centered. The therapists role is not to provide authority-driven solutions but to help the client develop a new communication and new interpretation of hisher experience. Contrary to traditional psychotherapeutic views, they do not focus on symptoms and their historical context but on the present and on clients strengths and wishes. Post-modern theories place great value on language as a way of creating reality and consequently as a tool to produce change (Boston, 2000  Walker, 2006).

For example, in Solution-Focused Therapy, clients are encouraged to discuss goals for change and means by which this change can be achieved (Gingerich, 2000  Lethem, 2002). Likewise, in Narrative Therapy the explicit description of the presenting problem allows the client to see hisher difficulties as a matter of personal and societal interpretation, distinct from his self-identity, thus contributing to the formulation of a less dysfunctional narrative (Boston, 2000).  Post-modern Therapy is based on the individuals existing strengths and resources. It frequently uses the technique of exceptions by urging clients to contemplate on paradigms where their difficulties were not so prominent. In this way, it empowers clients and provides them with a glance to future change. Another common technique is coping questioning which reveals effective coping strategies already used by the client, when faced with hisher current problems. Problem-free discussion is also used to address non-problematic domains of the clients experience and enhance hisher sense of self-efficacy and confidence (Gingerich, 2000  Lethem, 2002).

PMA have been successfully used in eating disorders, substance abuse and relationships problems. Psychiatric patients, couples, youth and criminal offenders have benefit from their application. Their techniques, which focus on the person and not the diagnostic label, may enhance the therapeutic alliance and the development of empathy, both associated with better therapy outcomes (Lethem, 2002).

Social Constructionism which suggests that mental illness is a social construct, a product of medical terminology, has contributed to fighting discrimination and stigma. However, it entails the risk of devaluating all achievements in the field of psychiatric research. In addition, the abolishment of the therapists authority may for some individuals produce a sense of insecurity and confusion. Finally, another major disadvantage is that the efficacy of Post-modern Therapy is hard to be scientifically evaluated.

Both FT and PMA have challenged traditional views including the classical Christian axioms (Arlandson, 2010). Nevertheless, their emphasis on equality, empowerment hope and motivation for change, seems to be in agreement with the spirit of the Bibles teachings.

To my opinion, counsellors should take into consideration their clients needs, strengths and aspirations as both FT and PMA dictate. To be effective, the counselling process must focus on the present and the future instead of trying to unravel mysteries of the distal past. Although most clients come to therapy with certain difficulties, a significant therapeutic force regardless of the counsellors theoretical background is the development of an empathetic alliance which can provide a sense of self-efficacy to the client and hope for the future.

Friedman states that there is a relationship between life events and illness (2002, p.114). The more life events, the more likely it would be for illness to be present. Several studies have been conducted to test the claim. However, despite the extensive research done on life change, it still has its flaws.

With life change, certain life events cause more stress than others. This fact made the need for a means to measure life change in the form of the SRRS, or the Social Readjustment Rating Scale. This scale is composed not only of negative events, but positive ones as well. To aid in measuring life change, a checklist of life events is being utilized by most investigators to evaluate a year. The checklist was named the Schedule of Recent Experience or SRE (Friedman, 2002, p.114). The events contained in the SRE are such that call for adjustment in ones way of living.

The aforementioned concepts of SRRS and SRE were applied to both retrospective and perspective studies. In both cases of research, a great relationship was found between life change and the occurrence of sudden heart attacks, accidents, athletic injuries, leukemia, tuberculosis, diabetes, and many minor medical complaints (Friedman, 2002, p.115). Some also observed the influences magnitude of life change has on the recovery of certain patients.

Despite having extensive studies, the methods of research have their flaws (Friedman, 2002, p.115-116). First, for the retrospective case, people would search for sources of stress to explain certain phenomena. Second, some studies point to factors other than life events to be more accurate illness predictors. Finally, there are certain life events listed on the SRE that may indicate an impending illness. The life-change approach suffers from many criticisms as it focuses on life changes negative effects and failure to consider the population of those who do not develop illness despite experiencing significant life changes.

1. Do you think PuzzleBrainteaser interviews are an effective method for gathering information about job applicants  Why or why not 

Puzzle or brainteaser interviews are an effective method for gathering information about job applicants because this method allows employers to assess the cognitive ability of an individual.  This method is not conventional and may seem irrelevant, but a closer analysis would make us realize that indeed they are effective and relevant.  A puzzle require problem solving skills similar to a mathematical problem (Peterson, n.d.).  In line with this, skills in problem solving and critical thinking are components of intelligence (IQ tests, n.d.).  Hence, this shows that answers to puzzles provide information on the intelligence of an individual, though for the case of job interviews, information gathered is not comprehensive.  Nevertheless, an individuals ability to answer these puzzles say a lot about his creativity and intelligence.  Through this type of interview, the potential of an individual to think creatively and rationally are evaluated.  These traits are important to most jobs, especially in technological companies, because promising and intelligent individuals contribute a lot to the advancement of companies that continuously need innovativeness from its employees.

2. Do you think that these interviews are more appropriate for some jobs versus others  Why or why not

Yes, these interviews are more appropriate for some jobs than others because not all jobs require complex or high level cognitive abilities.  Specific skills are required for specific job descriptions (Peterson, n.d.).  For example, a computer engineer applying for a job in an IT (information technology) company may be interviewed using this puzzlebrainteaser method because the job requires extensive cognitive abilities.  However, this interview method should not be used for individuals applying for a chef or cook position because the job description require performance abilities and skills more than cognitive abilities.