Traumatic Experiences and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Question:
Discuss about the Impacts of Sociological Factors on Clients for Services.
Negative experiences at one time in an individual’s life can have e a significant impact on their well being. These experiences include deaths of loved one, divorce, forced separation from families among others. Post-traumatic stress disorder is mental health condition that occurs as a result of experiencing or witnessing a terrifying event or events. Its symptoms include nightmares and severe anxiety (Aspire Learning Resources, 2015). This report explores the traumatic experiences of Anuk
Social institutions are norms and subsystems that are established to support the survival of society. The following are the major institutions in Australia
The family social institution
Educational, social institution
How these two social institutions have affected Anuk’s development
The family
The family is the basic social institution of the Australian society, and it is tasked with the responsibility of socializing children and instilling in them cultural values and provides a sense of belonging and identity (Blundell, Griffiths & McNeill,2013). The family has given Anuk a sense of belonging and identity and facilitated his socialization process besides instilling cultural values in him.
Education as a social institution plays a significant role in socialization and encouraging integration especially amid cultural diversities. Schools enable students from different cultural backgrounds to interact with the mainstream culture (Brunsma, 2007). Having been brought up in Asia in his early life, the school played a role in his transition to the Mainstream Australian Culture and integration with different cultures.
Major cultural institutions in Australian Society
Family
Educational institution
Cultural institutions are those institutions which play a role in preserving and promoting cultures of a given community. The family and education institutions double up both as social and cultural institutions (Hallinan,2007). His Vietnam family played a role in instilling in him cultural values based on the Vietnamese culture and helped in molding him into a full member of the society. The role of instilling in him cultural values associated with the Australian culture and transitioning him into a full member of the Australian Society. The school played a role in opening him to more cultural values held by different cultures within Australia and introducing him into the Australian mainstream culture.
Stratification refers to the process of classifying people within the society into different classes or groups. Depending on the Society, some people belong to certain groups have more power, status and are more wealthy than the others. The differences between these groups are what lead into stratification. Among the problems caused by social stratification include social disparities (In Pedersen, 2015)Having come from a lower class Anuk desires to join the Army to have a good source of income although he is discharged soon after. In normal instances former members of the Army should lead good lives even after having been discharged from the army, however having come from a lower class, his links with the army ended there after discharge. He was also compelled to take part in the Vietnam War so that he could be able to marry his sweetheart. His belonging to a lower class has also affected his ability to reconnect with his children and family members
The Family and Its Role in Anuk’s Development
Explain four barriers that were created when Anuk was separated from his biological family and through his participation in the Vietnam War.
As a result of the psychological damage that was caused by the separation of Anuk from his family, his education development was significantly affected. His dislike for school was so much that he ended up dropping out of school to work under apprenticeship.
Inability to coexist peacefully with people
As a result of the traumatic experiences that he had, Anuk became irate and violent. He was always in trouble with his teachers in school and was also aggressive towards his young family.
Although likely to marry young, research has shown that showed that children separated from their families are likely to be divorced because of violent tendencies in future despite aspiring to have stable relationships. One of the desires by Anuk was to get married to his sweetheart. However, his first experiences have made it impossible to live with his wife and children hence the reason for his divorce (Jigsaw Publications., & Challenger TAFE ,2009)
Traumatizing experiences also increase an individual’s chances of developing health complications. His average life was characterized by excessive drinking and aggression. The traumatizing experiences both during the Vietnam, war and as a result of family separation denied Anuk a chance to live a healthy life. At a later date, he is diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder which compounds his problems further.
Identify and discuss the underpinning social policy that has influenced Anuk’s life.
A social policy refers to an action plan by the government aimed at introducing reforms to the society or improving the society
Mental health challenges have been classified as among the fastest growing health problems in Australia. Sufficient funds have been set aside by the Australian government to facilitate adequacy of services in the mental health sector. Although momentarily, the social policy has helped him to identify and get some support on his post-traumatic stress disorder (Thorpe,2015)
Research 1 sociological theory and in the context of this theory discuss the effect the above has had on Anuk and his family.
Sociological theories exist to offer explanations, on the reason and relationships that exist between certain social facts.
Functionalist theory views the society as a system of interconnected units that exist together and works harmoniously to achieve balance and equilibrium for the whole society. These units also facilitate the meeting of individual and collective goals. The family, being the basic unit of the society played a role in socializing Anuk and giving him a sense of identity. Although his biological family did not play this role in its entirety, the contribution of the foster family was also significant. In both, the family as a whole and Anuk, in particular, had their goals met because of that harmonious working (Koop,2010).
Education’s Influence on Anuk’s Integration
Discuss how Anuk’s story has influenced and continues to influence Australian social policy.
Anuk’s story demonstrates the inadequacies that have been in existence within the Australian Society especially in the Health Care sector. It has influenced the development of more health care policies in general and mental health care in particular as well as continued funding from the government to help reduce these inadequacies.
Explain how this influences current cultures of service delivery
The impact of this has been an improvement in the delivery of health services, incensement in the efficiency of service delivery as well as the spreading of support services especially for mental health victims to more local government areas. It has also facilitated the creation of alternative support services for such victims.
Discuss two strategies that you would apply to make improvements to address social and cultural issues better and improve outcomes for service users such as Anuk.
Different Societies face different challenges which require different interventions to facilitate the harmonious coexistence of the various societal units and institutions. Among the strategies that would apply include
I would liaise with the various governmental institutions on for the implementation of social policies to address some of the critical social challenges such as inadequacy and inefficiency of healthcare services in the local government areas for traumatized patients as well as other categories of patients. I would also work towards implementation of policies to promote equality to address economic disparities existing between the various social classes in the society (Ronen & Freeman, 2007).
Social interactions such as community-based events have the possibility of enabling people from different cultures to interact freely which promotes more understanding of the existing cultural diversities as well as facilitate more appreciation of the various cultural differences. I will work towards facilitating such community based social events to address cultural issues (Turner,2007).
Q12. Discuss two strategies how support providers might revise aspects of their work undertaken or the services provided to better address social and cultural issues and improve outcomes for service users such as Anuk.
They can do this by rolling out their services beyond their traditional areas of operation such as in the local government areas so that there will be no discontinuity of service provision when a patient is referred from one service provider to another as it was the case with Anuk.
Among the challenges that confront service users are paying for services offered by support providers. A high-quality revenue management system can be adapted to address the related financial challenges that confront patients such as Anuk. Such a system would enable the Service providers to easily populate medical claim codes hence removing the burden of payments from the patients, hence improving their ability to acquire services and general experience (Corey, Corey & Corey, 2016).
Conclusion
In conclusion negative experiences in an individual’s life can have a significant impact on their social lives health status. The traumatic experiences experienced by Anuk both during the Vietnam War and after forceful separation with his family have been the cause of his current problems. There are several cultural and social issues that exist in the society and which can have an impact on individual’s life. Both cultural and social issues existing in the society as well as health services challenges facing people such as Anuk can be addressed through interventions from different stakeholders.
Reference List
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