P6- Explain how professionals use psychological perspectives to improve the social functioning of selected service
users
M3- Assess the impact of the use of psychological perspectives in local health and social care settings, in enabling
professionals to enhance the social functioning of selected service users.
D2- Evaluate the application of psychological perspectives in local health and social care settings in enabling
professionals to enhance the social functioning of selected service users.
D3- Evaluate the importance of the psychological perspectives used in health and social care settings, in relation to
understanding human development and managing and treating behaviours to enhance the social functioning of
service users.
Assignment 3
Bethany Perrin
P5, P6, M3, D2, D3- 15 pages
P5- Compare the application of psychological perspectives in local health and social care settings
When we are delivering care to service users in the health and social care industry, we can apply the psychological
perspectives to their care. We can see throughout the health and social care industry the concept of roles which is
a collection of expectations which accompanies a particular social position and is most commonly looked at the
sick role which is when a service user takes a step outside their usual role as a mother or employee and takes the
role of a patient in a health and social care setting. These roles have to have certain behaviours and take on
expectations from others. An example of this is through the role of a parent changing to a healthcare professional
when they entered the healthcare provision, this means that the usual role and responsibilities of a parent which
would be to care for a child, whereas when they enter work as a doctor these responsibilities stop, and they bring
to the new role of being a doctor which includes different responsibilities. We can also see that throughout health
and social care there is conformity to minority and majority. This is where we are influenced to changing our beliefs
or behaviours in order to fit in with a specific group of people, this can be real or imagined. An example of this can
be seen through the association that males are smarter and have the higher paying roles such as doctors whereas
females are seen as the role of nurses which ae unpaid and easier to qualify. We can also see this through group
therapy for those with drug addictions, by having someone who is in recovery this minority will influence the
majority to stop their drug addiction and enter recovery. This means that the one person who was in recovery
influenced a group of people to become like that person and enter recovery. Throughout health and social care
there is also the influence of others which is when an individual temporarily changes their behaviours or views in
order to fit in with other group members, where in private the views do not change. Psychologist Asch conducted
an experiment to test the majority influence and he asked participants in this experiment to state whether the
target line matched A, B or C, there were 9 participants in this experiment and one confederate, the confederate
was told to say the incorrect answer confidently and 37% of the time the majority of people influenced the
minority. We can see this through a healthcare team listing the advantages of a certain treatment to a service user
and due to the level of confidence and professionals that the health and social care professionals show, they feel
conformed to minority influence because of making the decision to accept the treatment in order to fit in amongst
the health and social care professionals. We can also see this through two nurses arguing about more freedom at a
staff meeting, if their ideas are well thought out, consistent and reasonable then they may be able to change the
mind of other health care professionals to feel the same way that they do. We may also see conformity to social
roles throughout the healthcare industry and this is when adapt our behaviours or values to fit the social role that
we have. The psychologist Zimbardo conducted the Stanford prison experiment to see look at the impact at
conforming to the social role of becoming a prisoner or prison guard, there were various participants from a variety
of backgrounds that were put in a stimulated prison environment and told what their roles were. This experiment
was scheduled to be approximately 14 days, but it had been stopped after just 6 days due to the severity of the
behaviours that the individuals conformed too. The individual that took to the role of the guard began to act in
ways that they would not normally act, and they began to abuse the prisoners, and this was due to the position of
power that they had been given. However, the prisoners became very depressed, and they had signs of extreme
stress and anxiety as they were placed in a position where they lost their control. In health and social care, many
healthcare staff have to conform to the social requirements of their role, and this can be seen through a doctor
ordering around and shouting at a newly qualified nurse, and as nurses are seen as below doctors in the healthcare
industry the doctor abuses his social position. We can also see obedience in health and social care, and this is
when we follow orders from another person and these are commonly learnt from a young age when young children
are expected to obey their parents, and other individuals who hold a position in authority. However, within
obedience we can be asked to do something against our will and morals. The psychologist Milgram conducted an
experiment which research how far people would go in obeying an instruction even if it involved harming another
person. The experiment focused on the conflict between obedience in authority and personal conscience. In the
experiment there was a participant with another person, and they drew a variety of tests to find out who would be
a participant and who would be a learner, the learner was always one of Milgram’s confederates and a participant
was always a teacher. The learner in this experiment was taken into a room and had electrodes attached to his
arms and the teacher went into a separate room that contained an electric shock generator and the learner was
commanded to give a shock of 450 volts which would cause death. The experiment founded that ordinary people
are likely to follow orders given be an authority figure if they can recognise that their authority is morally right
and/or legally based and they will do this even to the extent of a killing an innocent human being. An example of
this in health and social care can be seen through a nurse following a doctor’s orders as the doctor’s role is seen as
more advanced and holds more knowledge due to the longer training, this would mean that the nurse would follow
all orders that the doctor gives even if they think another decision should be considered. We can also see
throughout the health and social care industry that there is attitude change amongst individuals, the attitudes we
have are an important factor of our behaviours. The psychologist Festinger devised a theory known as cognitive
dissonance which states that if we believe two contradictory concepts then this induces a state of discomfort which
we are motivated to resolve. Cognitive dissonance causes psychological discomfort which is when you know that
,something is wrong or harmful, but you do it anyway. This state of mind can occur when our attitudes and
behaviours are contradictory of each other, we can see this through someone smoking, which is a habit that is
dangerous to your health, yet the individual’s behaviour is they persist in smoking, this contradiction creates a
state of dissonance for themselves. Festinger found that people will attempt to relive the tension caused by
cognitive dissonance by rejecting, explaining away or avoiding new information. We can also see cognitive
dissonance taken place through Laura, we know that Laura knows her behaviour in school is wrong however she
does it anyway and justifies her actions by thinking that school doesn’t matter, and the teachers deserve the poor
behaviour, we can see that she is justifying her negative behaviours because she feels psychological discomfort.
Throughout health and social care, we may find that hostility and aggression affect our behaviours and that service
users are present with these moods. Hostility involves an unfavourable attitude towards others whereas we can
see that aggression involves an unfavourable behaviour towards others, it is more often than not that hostility is
the fuel for our aggression. We can see through the frustration-aggression hypothesis, which was proposed by
Dollard et al, it is the idea that when people are frustrated at not having their needs met, they act in an aggressive
way. The aggression from this situation can then be displaced which is when an individual is unable to express
their frustration directly at the source, so they take it out on someone of a lower status instead. We can see this
throughout the health and social care industry as a doctor may experience frustration if they have a disagreement
with their boss or another doctor, they then take this frustration and shout at a nurse which is of a lower position.
Each of the perspectives can be used in health and social care to explain human behaviours and help to manage
the behaviours of those who have difficult behaviours, however each perspective is different in finding out different
behaviours and managing them. We can see this through factors that influence hostility and aggression and
conformity to social roles which are both different terms, for example the factors that influence hostility and
aggression is focused on the fact that individuals like a doctor may experience frustration if they have a
disagreement with their boss and then the frustration is taken out on someone of a lower position like a nurse,
whereas conformity to social roles is where individuals will change their behaviours in order to fit in to a particular
role. We can see how these perspectives are similar because hostility and aggression is mainly those individuals of
a higher power taking their anger out on those who have a lower status and conformity to social roles is when
those of a higher power like a doctor abuse their social position which can be seen through them ordering a nurse
around as they are of a lower position in the healthcare industry. It can be seen as similar as both perspectives
show us that those of a higher authority will abuse their power and be disrespectful to those who don’t hold as
much power as them which gives us the ability to help reduce these tendencies to abuse our power and helps us to
learn the correct ways to manage negative behaviours amongst service users. These perspectives are different in
the sense that conformity to social roles is a perspective that individuals like doctors are expected to be
commanding towards the staff lower than them like nurses whereas in hostility and aggression it is purely choice
for the doctors to be rude to other members of staff. We can also see this through conformity to minority/ majority
and influence which are very similar, but one is only temporary whereas the other is more permanent. For
example, conformity to minority and majority can be seen through group therapy of drug addictions- those who
attend will talk to someone who is in recovery and this will help to influence the majority to stop their addiction
permanently and enter recovery, this means that those individuals will change their behaviour and beliefs about
taking their drugs in order to fit into the group. This can be seen as very similar to influence which is when an
individual will temporarily change their views and behaviours in order to fit in with other people whereas in private
their views do not change, we can see this through an individual agreeing to a treatment that they would not
usually consider but due to the confidence and number of healthcare professionals they feel like they have to
agree in order to fit in and be accepted by the health and social care professionals. We can see how these
perspectives are similar because conformity to the minority and majority is individuals changing their views in
order to fit in with a group of people which is the same as influence, as individuals are influenced into changing
their views and behaviours to fit in with another group of people, this gives us the power to understand why
individuals change their behaviours and views and we can help to support service users through understanding
these perspectives. We can however see the difference that conformity to the minority/ majority is a permanent
choice that individuals make, and influence is a temporary choice that people make, and their original views and
behaviours remain the same privately. We can also see this through obedience and attitude change which are very
common behaviours throughout the health and social care industry. These perspectives are both similar in the fact
that they help us to identify why individuals behave in the way that they do. For example, throughout the health
and social care industry we may see attitude change which is when we experience cognitive dissonance because
our attitudes and behaviours are contradictory of each other and this causes us to have psychosocial discomfort.
this can be seen through Laura who knows her negative behaviours in school is wrong, but she behaves like it
anyway and justifies her actions by thinking that school doesn’t matter and that the teachers deserve the poor
behaviour. Whereas we can see through obedience which is when individuals follow orders from another person
who they think could be an authority figure, morally right and/ or legally based. We can see this through a nurse
following a doctor’s orders because they believe that the doctor is more advanced and has more knowledge so the
decision must be correct, and they follow the order regardless of what they think. These perspectives are similar in
the fact that they will perform an action even if it goes against something that they believe in and they will do this
without thinking about what harm it could do to others, this is useful for health and social care professionals to
know as it can aid them when treating service users as we can see why service users choose to do such tasks that
are negative. We can see that these perspectives are different in the case that obedience is following orders from
another person even to the extent of killing another person, and attitude change is when we know something is
wrong and harmful, but we do it anyway- so it could be said that it’s a choice we make, rather than a command we
have to do.
P6, M3, D2 – Explain how professionals use psychological perspectives to improve the social functioning of selected
service users
Assess the impact of the use of psychological perspectives in local health and social care settings, in enabling
professionals to enhance the social functioning of selected service users.
, Around 10 pages
In this assignment I will be explaining how health and social care professionals use the psychological perspectives
to improve the social functioning of selected service users and to do this I will assess the impact of these
psychological perspectives in health and social care settings and how these perspectives enable health and social
care professionals to enhance the social functioning of selected service users being Laura and Benjamin.
Compliance/ non-compliance
We can see throughout the health and social care industry that we use compliance and non-compliance everyday
as individuals, however sometimes it can become uncontrollable, and individuals need more support with
controlling it. The term compliance means to change your behaviours in response to a direct response, order or
specification and we can see that the case studies being Laura and Benjamin show compliance and non-
compliance. We can see that throughout Laura’s case study that she isn’t compliant with her GP’s request of taking
medication in order to manage her diabetes, the medication was prescribed for herself, but she refused to take the
medication which causes negative effects to her health, this further shows that she is not compliant with the
recommendation that her GP has made. We can also see that Benjamin is complaint to following orders as he
followed the lockdown rules and self-isolated when he found out that he had tested positive for COVID-19, by
taking extra measures and staying home to protect orders he was compliant with the government’s guidance.
Compliance and non-compliance can be used by health and social care professionals to effectively improve Laura’s
and Benjamin’s social functioning. It can help to improve Laura’s social functioning as if her general practioner was
able to find a way to make Laura compliant to take her medication this would allow better control of her diabetes
which would have a positive effect on Laura as it would mean that her health would improve allowing her to do
more activities and it would reduce all risks to her health that not taking the medication create. This approach will
also help to improve her social functioning by giving her teachers control over her outbursts as if the teachers find
a way to make Laura compliant with their orders, then she will behave better in school due to the outbursts being
controlled and this would allow her to learn better and socialise with more people. It can also help to improve
Benjamin’s social functioning as being compliant with orders will benefit him as he will develop better relationships
and by showing that he is following the COVID-19 restrictions he will be able to see his son a lot quicker as he will
be trusted to keep himself and his son safe, once the restrictions allow him too, this will help to make him happier
and motivate him to be more compliant with the rules and regulations that get set for him to follow. There are
many strengths of using this approach to help improve the social functioning of Laura and Benjamin. We can see
that if we applied this perspective to Laura’s case study then she would be enabled to make more friends due to
the fact that she would be able to make her own decisions which could be to make friends of her own age. We can
see this as a strength as the friends that she currently has are of an older age so they are experimenting with
alcohol and recreational drugs, this means that if Laura made friends that were her own age, she wouldn’t
experience the influence of these unhealthy habits which benefits her health and wellbeing and improves her
social functioning. Another strength that we are able to identify is that the compliance/ non-compliance approach
enables Laura to focus on her health and wellbeing, this is due to the fact that she would become more compliant
with her general practioners advice regarding her medication, rather than her old negative influence she had. This
can be seen as a strength for Laura because her health will be improved as her diabetes will be more controlled,
therefore meaning that she can complete new activities that may have been difficult before due to her poor health.
We can see that if we applied this perspective to Benjamin’s case study then he would be able to make better
choices regarding his health, we know that he has stopped taking his medication due to the fact that a work
colleague told him that it didn’t work, if Benjamin didn’t comply with this and he continued to take his medication
then his mood swings caused by the bipolar would be reduced therefore resulting in his happiness being increased,
making this a strength. Another strength that we are able to identify is that the compliance/ non-compliance
approach allows Benjamin to progress in his work environment, this is because if he is a good colleague that
compliant with his work procedures then he will get recognised and be offered a higher status in his work, which is
a strength because he will be earning more money and he may like his new job status better. However, there are
also disadvantages that the compliance/ noncompliance approach brings. We can see this through Laura’s case
study as we can use the compliance approach but there is a risk that Laura can become compliant to the wrong
thing, this could be her older friends. If Laura was to comply with her older friends, then she may take part in
unhealthy lifestyle choices which can damage her future and cause disastrous effects to her health and wellbeing.
We can also see-through Benjamin’s case study that if we use the compliance approach there may be negative
effects to his health and wellbeing, this is because if Benjamin was to comply with his work colleagues, then he
may begin to take recreational drugs and alcohol which will harm his health and wellbeing. This could also lead to
him developing an addiction which will become a barrier between seeing his son. We can see that this approach is
ethical because it’s used in order to support individuals to improve their social functioning which will benefit their
health and wellbeing in the long term.
Conformity- minority & majority
We can see throughout the health and social care industry that there is conformity to minority and majority
present every day to individuals, however sometimes it can become uncontrollable, and individuals need more
support with controlling it and making their own decisions. The term conformity to minority and majority means
that we are influenced to changing our beliefs or behaviours in order to fit in with a specific group of people and we
can see that the case studies being Laura and Benjamin show conformity to minority and majority. We can see that
throughout Laura’s case study that she has conformed to the majority as the group of people that she associates
herself to be friends with take recreational drugs and drink a large quantity of alcohol, this shows us that she was
influenced into changing her behaviours and beliefs in order to fit in with her older friends which furthermore
suggest that she conformed to the majority. We can also see that Benjamin has conformed to the minority as a
colleague at work suggested that the medication, he takes to be useless which influenced Benjamin into changing
his views on the medication and lead to him refusing to take the medication, this suggests that he changed his
views in order to fit in with his work colleague even at the poor consequences it would have on his health.
