Essays about Psychology

Essay about Psychology (250 words)

The advantage of psychology is that it is able to occupy every component of our life. School, institute, work, family, relationships with people, personal experiences - every day we try to solve many problems, try to cope with difficult situations, and psychology helps us with this.

Probably, everyone in life should have an event that will still lead to the understanding that we just need to be psychologically prepared. Especially in our time, people are greatly influenced by television and the Internet. It is certainly good that we live in an age of high information technology, but still people must learn to “filter” and adapt in a large information flow. In my understanding, psychology is the science of the inner, spiritual world of a person.

This science studies the relationship of people with the environment, as well as the interaction of people among themselves. In general, the process of studying human relationships is very complicated, since it is difficult to understand, the inner world of each person is unique and unique. Therefore, psychology plays a very important role in the life of any person. It helps to understand what internal personal motives motivate a person, determine his behavior and actions.

In my own life, psychology plays an important role, since I believe that everything that surrounds me will certainly affect my mind. Psychology helps me to study myself better, teaches me to understand people, how to effectively build interpersonal relationships and understand my professional self-determination, and most importantly, it allows me to solve difficulties in relationships with family members and relatives.

Essay about Psychology (550 words)

Historical stages of development of psychology as a science. The main directions of psychology

From ancient times, the needs of public life have forced people to distinguish and take into account the peculiarities of the mental structure of people. Some psychological aspects have already been touched upon in the philosophical teachings of antiquity.

The first ideas about the psyche were associated with animism - the most ancient view that everything that exists in the world has a soul. The soul was understood as an entity independent of the body, controlling all living and non-living objects.

According to the ancient Greek philosopher Plato, the human soul exists in connection with the body. It is the image and expiration of the world soul. Mental phenomena are subdivided by Plato into reason, courage (will) and lust (motivation). Plato gives the following list of feelings: anger, fear, desire, sadness, love, jealousy, envy. The great philosopher Aristotle in his treatise "On the Soul" singled out psychology as a kind of field of knowledge and for the first time put forward the idea of the inseparability of soul and living body.

Under the ecclesiastical influence of the Middle Ages, the idea that the soul is a divine, supernatural principle was established, and therefore the study of spiritual life should be subordinated to the tasks of theology. Only the outer side of the soul, which is turned to the material world, can be subjected to human judgment. The greatest sacraments of the soul are available only in religious (mystical) experience. In the Middle Ages, specific material was accumulated on the anatomical and physiological features of the organism as one of the foundations of the psyche. It is necessary to note the experience of Arab thinkers of the 9th - 11th centuries Avicenna and Averroes.

In the 18th century, the German philosopher Wolf introduced the term "empirical psychology", the principle of which is to observe specific mental phenomena, their classification and the establishment of a verifiable, natural connection between them.

The English philosopher Locke considers the human soul as a passive but perceptible environment, comparing it to a blank slate on which nothing is written. Under the influence of sensory impressions, the human soul, waking up, is filled with simple ideas, begins to think, that is, to form complex ideas.

The separation of psychology into an independent science occurred in the 60s of the 19th century. Special research institutions were created with the introduction of an experiment to study mental phenomena. The first variant of experimental psychology as an independent scientific discipline was the physiological psychology of the German scientist Wundt. Wundt's successor is the American psychologist Titchener, the founder of structural psychology. It is based on the idea of elements of consciousness (sensations, images, feelings) and structural relationships. The structure, according to Titchener, is revealed by the subject's observation of the acts of his own consciousness.

At the beginning of the 20th century, a crisis situation arose in psychology: the method of introspection did not give noticeable results; it was not possible to clarify the specifics of mental reality, to solve the problem of the connection of mental phenomena with physiological ones, and a significant gap was found between psychological theory and the data of experimental work. Attempts to overcome this crisis have led to the formation of several influential schools (areas) in psychological science.

Essay about Psychology (2000 words)

The socio-psychological orientation (personality - society) has evolved throughout the history of professional social work in the 20th century. and led to the emergence of the psychosocial approach. This approach is usually associated with the names M. Richmond (Mary Richmond) and F. Hollis (Florence Hollis), and in the 1950-1960s. the psychoanalytic ideas of Freud had a great influence on its formation, then - the works of J. Bowlby.

In studies devoted to the psychosocial approach, the need to understand the personality of the client in his relationship with the world that surrounds him is substantiated. In other words, one should not separate concepts such as the inner world and the outer reality in order to understand the integrity of the “person in the situation”, ie. psychosociality.

The relevance of the topic is due to the fact that social work and psychology are related sciences. Knowledge of psychology helps the social work specialist in his daily activities. No wonder the discipline "Psychology" is included in the state educational standard of a specialist in social work.

Features of social work as a type of activity

At the beginning of the 20th century, social work acquired the status of a new profession. Russian universities train specialists in social work, whose activities are set by the needs of society.

Social workers as professionals comprehend the essence of the life of an individual, a group of people, their changes under the influence of various economic, socio-psychological factors. And they not only comprehend, but also solve practical problems of helping individuals (groups, communities) to successfully solve life problems, realize their interests and aspirations.
Activity is a way of existence and development of social reality, a manifestation of social activity, purposeful reflection and transformation of the surrounding world. She is characterized by consciousness (goal-setting), productive and social character.

Activities are divided into practical and spiritual, which complement each other. Social work is a special type of activity, the purpose of which is to satisfy socially guaranteed and personal interests and needs of various groups of the population, to create conditions conducive to the restoration or improvement of people's abilities for social functioning.
The activity of a social worker cannot be carried out without the development of professionally significant personality traits, which are realized in professional activity, evaluated, compensated, adapted and developed from the standpoint of activity. The specificity of the functions of a social worker, as well as the vivid expression of the ethical aspect of this activity, presupposes an organic combination of personal and professional qualities.

Thus, social work is a special type of expedient and purposeful activity. Its content and development is of a multi-subject, multifactorial nature, therefore, the role of unforeseen circumstances and side effects is great in it, a significant role is played by accidents, which can significantly deform the proposed means and the goals set.

Psychological aspects of social work

The emergence of social work as a science and specific social activity was due to the exacerbation of social collisions in the 19th century. in connection with the rapid development of capitalism in Western countries - industrialization and urbanization and as a result of a sharp increase in unemployment, crime, alcoholism, etc.

Already initially, in the process of the formation and institutionalization of social work, it was clear that its organic component is the psychological activity of social workers and psychologists, psychosocial work with an individual and a group.

Within the framework of social work, social individual psychotherapy arose, therefore, in the first period, social work was even reduced to socio-psychological work.

The direct methodological basis of the psychological practice of social work is, undoubtedly, the fundamental general psychological teachings about the personality, its structure; typology and development, the theory of temperament and character, needs and motivation of behavior, the concept of group psychology and communication, conflict and deviation. However, these psychological concepts and theories were formed and developed by their authors most often (although not always quite consciously), in turn, under the influence of certain philosophical and sociological teachings about the nature and essence of man. It should be noted that many of the philosophical, anthropological and sociological ideas themselves are directly related to the behavior of the individual and may well be used in the practice of social work. Among the philosophical and sociological doctrines and ideas, concepts about the essence and nature of man, about the relationship between the social and the biological in man and his development, about the meaning of his life, about social action, about the interaction of the individual and society, and others, have the most methodological significance for the practice of social work.

Many approaches to social work are based on certain psychological views. Psychoanalysis formed the basis for the diagnostic theory of social work, which later determined the method of individual psychosocial work. In recent decades, the provisions of humanistic psychology have acquired particular importance for the strategy of social work (the main ones are about the self-actualization of A. Maslow and the personal growth of K. Rogers). Firstly, basically the essence, content and methods of social work are determined by the principle of humanism and, secondly, these provisions make it possible to understand a person as an integral personality in interaction with his environment.

Both social work and psychology are applied in nature, and the following areas are of particular importance for the practice of social work: 7

1. Psychodiagnostics is a branch of mental knowledge associated with the formulation of a psychological diagnosis (relevant for social forecasting, counseling and psychotherapeutic assistance, etc.).
2. Psychological counseling - helping mentally normal people to achieve their goals, more effective organization of behavior.

Modern psychology presents great opportunities for social work to use various ways of interacting with a client: psychodrama, music therapy, role play, etc.

If, as a practice, social work arose earlier than the scientific period in psychology - approximately in the 70s. XIX century, the theoretical understanding of its results and the development of skills went under great influence and in parallel with the development of the theory of psychoanalysis (until the end of the 1940s, psychodynamic and ego-psychological approaches were dominant in individual social work, i.e. in work with one client, not with a group; "social casework") and later the theory of social psychology, learning theory, stress theory and other psychological concepts.
Thus, social work is inconceivable without knowledge of the basics of psychology. Among other social sciences, the connection between social work and psychology is the most significant. The theoretical foundations of psychology form the basis of social work with a client.

Psychological Techniques in Working with a Social Service Client

The study of the social work client begins at the end of the 19th century. Class approaches to the personality of the needy are gradually giving way to natural-scientific approaches. Research in the field of psychiatry, psychotherapy and personality psychology has had a serious impact on the development of methods, as well as on the scientific reflection of social work. Methods of psychoanalysis and humanistic psychotherapy are applied to the theory and practice of social work. Schools and directions of social work in explaining individual actions of a person, his behavior, emotional reactions, etc. are based on the concepts and ideas of Z. Freud, K. Jung, K. Rogers, A. Maslow, E. Erickson and other psychologists and psychiatrists. Various approaches to personality psychology, developed by these and subsequent researchers, are reflected in the approaches to the phenomenon of the client of social work, determine one or another strategy of relationships with him, and make it possible to form various interpretive tools for the problems and situations of clients. Psychodynamic, humanistic and systemic psychological concepts have had a particular influence on the approach to the client in the theory and practice of social work.

A social worker needs a certain level of psychological literacy to effectively fulfill his professional duties related to the organization and functioning of social services.

If we proceed from the position that among the professional functions of social workers, the most important should be considered the provision of psychological support, the performance of intermediary functions through interaction with specific specialists (psychologists, psychotherapists, psychiatrists, teachers, sociologists, lawyers, etc.), then psychological training should include the study of both general trends in mental manifestations and special ones (depending on age, gender, profession, social status, etc.).

The need for a sufficiently high psychological competence is due to the fact that a social worker, first, must constantly cooperate with professional psychologists, psychotherapists and find mutual understanding with them; secondly, to distinguish between those cases when a psychological or even psychiatric problem is hidden under the "mask" of a social problem and to refer the client to the appropriate specialist; third, to be able to provide primary social support to people in need of it; fourthly, constantly communicating with people burdened with psychological problems, he must possess the principles of psychologically correct communication with them.

In the practice of social work, one of the central places belongs to individual work with a client. Often a social worker is faced with erroneous actions of people, their confusion, helplessness, painful perception of others, not only in extreme, stressful, but also in ordinary situations.

Often people who cannot solve their problems due to their physical condition (elderly, lonely, sick, disabled people) need the help of a social worker. As a rule, they also have peculiar tendencies in the sphere of the psyche: aggression, depression, autism, etc.

In addition, people who do not know how or do not know how to choose a path to solve their problems, to find the strength to realize their intentions, resort to social assistance. The object of the social worker's activity is also persons who are in an altered (but within the limits of the norm) state of mind, where most often the leading role belongs to the psychological component.11

The options for psychological assistance to a person are varied. But they are only effective when they are applied in a combination of theory, methodology and technology of using psychological knowledge. It is important for a specialist in the field of social work to be able to choose and use in practice methods that correspond to the individuality of a particular person and take into account his social needs and interests.

According to world practice, there are two points of view regarding the use of psychological methods in helping a person. Some believe that only specialists with a special medical education can engage in psychological practice. For example, the American Psychoanalytic Association admits only certified doctors as members. Others believe that the requirements for practicing psychologists should not be so strict. For example, in the UK, every third psychoanalyst does not have a medical education. In most Western countries, the role of the social worker in providing psychological assistance to the population is constantly growing. Even in the United States, the number of social workers working in the field of mental health now exceeds the total number of psychiatrists and psychoanalysts working in this field. The development of a network of psychological services, as experience shows, is also of great economic importance. According to Western experts, one ruble invested in the development of a system of psychological assistance to the population makes it possible to avoid investing ten rubles in the development of a medical psychiatric service.