Understanding Social Psychological Approaches/Perspectives in the

Context of Gang Impacted Environments

Day 4

EUGangs Training the Trainers

Learning Outcome:

• To be able to facilitate understanding and application of relevant perspectives drawn from social psychology in order to develop practice in working with gangs

To Begin With…A Quick Exercise…

• What did you do for lunch today?

• Consider the above question in relation to 2 concepts:

• A. the idea of ‘free will’ – ie you did consciously do exactly what you wanted

• B. the idea of ‘determinism’ – ie that the decisions and choices you made were strongly influenced by circumstances including unconscious motives

• So, how much control did you have over your ‘lunch’ today?

Free Will v Determinism

• These two dimensions are at the heart of the different psychological perspectives, research and approaches

• As Democritus said (in 440BC, cited in Russell 1996):

• “Nothing occurs at random, but everything for a reason and by necessity”.

An Introduction to the ‘Main’ Perspectives/Approaches:

• 1. The Psychodynamic (Psychoanalytical) (often known as the 1st force in psychology)

• 2. The Behaviourist/Behavioural (known as the 2nd force…)

• 3. The Humanistic (Person-Centred) (known as the 3rd force…)

• And More Recently…

• 4. The Cognitive/Cognitivist Approach

• And finally…

• 5. The Integrative Approach

And here’s some context to each…

• The Psychodynamic…can be traced back to the work of Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), founder of Psychoanalysis…

• Key concepts include:

• Defences, Dreams, Hidden Meaning, manipulative, The Unconscious, Symbols, Avoidance

And now to Freud, and the Psychodynamic Approach

• Freud’s approach emphasises:

• The role of the unconscious

• Personality as the result of a dynamic interplay of conscious and unconscious factors.

• Psychosexual stages of development

Freud, and the Psychodynamic Approach Continued…

• Freud suggests that personality is made up of and interplay between 3 elements:

• The ‘Id’ – unconscious psychic energy, basic level instinct, immediate gratification

• The ‘Ego’ – conscious perceptions, thoughts, judgements and memory which controls the ‘id’ for socially acceptable behaviour

• And• The ‘Super Ego’ – moral values, right and wrong, guilt and

pride and our conscience which demands ideal standards

• This approach is deterministic in the sense that it views behaviour as controlled by the unconscious

Visualising Freud’s ideas…as an iceberg…

• The Behavioural/Behaviourist Approach…

• Is based on the scientific learning theories of Russian psychologist I. P. Pavlov (1849 – 1946) and American psychologists J. B. Watson and B.F. Skinner, the founders of Behaviourism

• Key concepts include…

• Behaviour, Homework, Goals, Step-by-step, Making Plans

And now on to Behaviourism

Behaviourists believe that our

environment determines most of our

behaviours. We repeat behaviour that is

rewarded, and we do not repeat

behaviour that is not rewarded.

Therefore we can be conditioned to behave in particular ways

Bandura’s Social Learning Theory borrows a lot from this tradition:

Albert Bandura

Basic assumption

we learn not through

reinforcement, but through the

observation of models.

Bandura, Ross (1963) Bobo

Doll study

• So in regard to young people in gangs…

• …Do you think any of these approaches have anything to offer?

• The Humanistic Approaches…

• Are developed by a group of American psychologists in the 1950s such as Carl Rogers (1902 – 1987), founder of the Person-Centred Approach

• Key concepts include…

• Active listening, Non-judgemental, Empathy, Genuine, Client-centred, Non-interpretative

The Humanistic Perspective

“The forces that direct behaviour reside within us when social conditions do not block or distort them” (Gross, 1987, p. 940)

The pure self The conditioned self

The phenomenal

field

The phenomenal field shaped

by social conditions

Carl Roger’s Person-Centred (Humanistic) Approach:

• “If I can provide a certain type of relationship, the other person will discover within {themself} the capacity to use that relationship for growth, and change and personal development will occur.”

• (Rogers, 1961, p. 33, On Becoming a Person)

• “Humanistic theories of personality maintain that humans are motivated by the uniquely human need to expand their frontiers and to realise as much of their potential as possible.”

• (Sanders, P. (2002) First Steps in CounsellingPCCS Books, Ross-on- Wye)

Roger’s Three Core Conditions:

• - Realness in the facilitator of learning (iegenuineness)

• - Prizing, acceptance, trust (ie being non-judgemental – ”a non possessive caring”)

• - Empathic understanding (ie empathy)

• (adapted from Rogers 1983, pp 121-126, Freedom to Learn for the 80’s)

• So, let’s pause to consider whether the person-centred approach can help in gang-related environments?

• What about issues of trust?

• What about health and safety…and boundaries?

• The Cognitive Approach…

• Emphasises the role of thoughts in mental processes. These were developed by Aaron Beck and Albert Ellis, the founder of Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy

• Key concepts include…

• Irrational beliefs, Homework, Positive thinking, Making plans, Logical thinking

• Whereas behaviourists classically ignored thoughts, feelings and other mental states and processes, those trying to change behaviour in ‘cognitive’ ways focus on them

• The Cognitive approach encourages us to change our way of thinking (from negative to positive or from irrational to rational).

Cognitivism/The Cognitivist Approach:

• A. T. Beck and the better known Albert Ellis challenged the behaviourist approach in the 1960’s & 1970’s.and developed the cognitive approach.

• Cognition is the psychological term for thinking.

• Ellis developed Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT) .

Some key principles of the Cognitive approach:

• If people learn to think more constructively about their own ideas and feelings, this can be a step towards learning how to monitor, manage and change them, and the behaviour that results.

• We are happiest when the things we do help us achieve personally meaningful goals.

• The ‘therapist’ helps us identify our irrational beliefs and challenges them (link with Emotional Intelligence).

• Cognitivist techniques enable people to:

• Think through, for themselves, the reasons why they behave the way they do

• Make decisions about what they really want out of life

• Consider whether there are any more effective ways of achieving those ends

• And so, what do you think about Cognitivist approaches in relation to gang-impacted environments?

• How can you enable others to change their way of thinking and therefore their behaviour?

• And finally…• Integrative Approaches…• Blend components of different approaches, and have been

particularly ‘popular’ since the mid-1970s, popularised by Gerard Egan, the founder of Developmental Eclecticism

• Key concepts include…• The idea that …Different people and different

problems need different sorts of help, Getting it in perspective, Problem-solving

• .

And now finally to the Integrative Approach

• Egan (1975)is the best known for the Integrative Approach.

• His well known book “The Skilled Helper” was published in 1975.

• Egan followed the trend set by Rogers and developed a set of techniques that could be used to help people in distress.

• This became known as the ‘3 stage level of helping’.

Some key underlying principles for this approach:

• People have distress due to a lack of personal skills and living in a destructive social system.

• No one approach can meet all needs.

• You should pick the best from a number of approaches to suite the client.

• A ‘Helper’ might apply a set of skills and techniques according to individual need.

Egan’s model:

• STAGE/LEVEL ONE –Building and exploring the ‘helping’ relationship; helping clients identify and clarify problem situations.

• STAGE/LEVEL TWO –New understanding, different perspectives; helping clients create a better future.

• STAGE/LEVEL THREE –Helping the client to develop/use helping strategies; getting there –helping clients implement their goals.

• Egan developed a key skills theory to help people manage their problems better. (Adapted from Egan’s (1994)The Skilled Helper)

Urie Bronfenbrenner

• Bronfenbrenner developed his ecological systems theory (in the 1970s) to explain how everything in a child and a child’s environment affects how a child grows and develops

• He labelled different aspects or levels of the environment that influence children’s development.

Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory

• The Micro-system has the most direct impact on the child's development, i.e. parents, family, peers, school and local community. Interactions within the Micro-system are bi-directional, for example parental attitudes and behaviours can impact on upon the individual and vice versa.

• The Meso-system refers to relationships within the micro-systems. i.e. connections between family experiences to school experiences and family experiences to peer experiences. For example, those individuals whose early caregiver experiences involved rejection may have difficulty developing later positive relationships with peers or teachers.

• The Exo-system refers to the wider social systems the individual does not have active interactions with, but which may influence them indirectly. For example, an individual’s difficult experience at home may be influenced by their parent losing their job (as a result of poor economic climates), resulting in fractured interactions due to increased familial stress.

• The Macro-system refers to the cultural context in which the individual lives, compromising socioeconomic status, poverty, and ethnicity. This system can influence interactions within both the micro-system and exo-system.

Bringing it all together in a scene…

• ‘The Interrupters’:

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYZJTTWX3JI

• (26.38mins)

And Now to Some Experiential Groupwork

• Andes Survival Kit Exercise:We have crashed in the Andes Mountains and there are 5 of us left. We have all survived unhurt. However, the plane caught fire after we landed but we were able to salvage 10 items from the plane.

Your task is to decide what are the most important 5 items for the survival of the group as we trek towards the nearest town 50 miles away over mountainous terrain.

Andes/continued

• Please give this list in order of importance,1 to 5.

Equipment to be salvaged from the plane wreck:• Torch with battery• A knife with 6” blade• First Aid Kit• A football• Compass• 4 litre can of water• A single volume of the complete works of Shakespeare• A woollen blanket• 24 ft length of rope• A pack of digestive biscuits

• Debrief, feedback from group members and individuals.

• What does this ‘snap shot’ tell you about groups?

Understanding Communication in Groups (Argyle)

• Dominant Personality

• Resists Leads

• Criticises Initiates

• Judges Suggests

• Attacks verbally Advises

• Low affiliation High affiliation

• Evades Helps

• Withdraws Assists

• Opts Out Co-operates

• Remains silent Obliges

•

• Dependent Personality

Leadership Behaviour in Groups

• Dependent Dominant• Ensures physical proximity Talks loudly and/or fast

• Makes body contact Uses confident tones

• Makes regular affirmations Interrupts others

• Uses friendly tone voice Cuts others off before they

have finished

• Personalises conversation Controls topics of

conversation

Avoids disagreements Gives instructions/allocates

tasks